In November 2023, Italy imposed a ban on the production, sale and import of lab-grown meat, which is a step backwards for the cell-based meat industry. However, in addition to availability, education, information and price are also essential to ensure that meat from cell cultures is accepted and consumed by the general public, according to the new trend paper "Good Conscience From the Lab? The State of Acceptance for Cultivated Meat".
The Swiss are less open to cultured meat
According to the survey, 66% of Swiss people are unlikely to try lab-grown meat. Only insects and coffee made from mushrooms are even more mistrusted by the Swiss population. These would not be tried by 72% and 67% respectively. For foods containing CBD and THC, however, the figure is only 42%.
Compared to other countries, the Swiss are much more sceptical about cultured meat. For example, 45% of Americans would try lab-grown meat, compared to only 20% in Switzerland. In this country, 15% are still undecided.
Four factors help the acceptance of lab-grown meat
According to the GDI researchers, education, information, availability and a price similar to that of conventional meat are needed for meat from cell cultures to be accepted by the general public. Most consumers do not want to pay more for cultured meat than for meat from animals. This is where a paradigm shift such as the introduction of true prices could help with distribution: by including social and ecological costs, animal meat would become more expensive, while cultured meat would become cheaper.
English: http://doi.org/10.59986/QICD3805
German: http://doi.org/10.59986/LIXI3222
The authors
