Consideration of Nomenclature to be Used for Labeling for Food Using Cultured Cells in Japanese

Abstract

Nomenclature used in labeling food using cultured cells is critical for the Novel Food industry in Japan. Currently, different names are used among industry, academia, relevant government ministries, and the media. A unified name must be used for appropriate communication with consumers. This study aims to clarify the characteristics of several commonly used Japanese names for food products made from cultured cells and organize the attention points when each name is used. An online consumer survey was conducted targeting 6,000-panel participants aged 20 to 69, using package images of four types of food products that consumers might encounter in supermarkets: ”beef,” “beef patty,” “salmon,” and “kamaboko,” testing the names “saibousei (cell-based),” “baiyou (cultured),” “saibou baiyou (cell-cultured),” and “jinkou baiyou (artificially cultured).” As a result of the experiment, no name was found to be clearly superior across all criteria. The term “saibousei” has advantages, such as being less likely to be mistaken for conventional foods, being less likely to give consumers the impression of being “unnatural.” On the other hand, the terms “baiyou” and “saibou baiyou” allow for an association with the production technology through the name. However, they are also prone to misinterpretation, such as being mistaken for farmed fish or being perceived as identical to conventional foods. In any case, we discussed in the analysis that additional explanation about the technology's characteristics is necessary depending on the name used.