Cell-based divide: Cultivated seafood proponents push back at “lab-grown” labeling term

11 Mar 2021 --- The cultivated seafood industry is in its infancy, and its products are still poised for market entry. As such, industry’s cell-cultured proponents are cautioning against prematurely imposing regulations that would limit cultivated seafood labeling to terms that may distance consumers, such as “lab-grown.”

Non-profit Good Food Institute (GFI) is urging that cultivated seafood producers should be allowed to use terms like “fillet” and “steak” in labeling products that have the structural and textural characteristics associated with those terms. 

Meanwhile, aquaculture player BlueNalu is championing the term “cell-cultured” to replace other “disparaging and misleading” labels.

FoodIngredientsFirst has reached out to both organizations for comment.

BlueNalu's whole-muscle, cell-cultured yellowtail medallions atop a bisque of roasted butternut squash. (Credit: BlueNalu)How much do consumers know?
The GFI stresses that an understanding of consumer’s label literacy must be taken into account when identifying what specific terminology to label products with. It recently issued this guidance addressed to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The non-profit organization flags that consumers who are allergic to specific types of fish will have the same reaction to cultivated varieties of that species, evidencing the need for labeling uniformity.

“Using the common name of the fish or shellfish will be crucial to alerting these consumers to the potential for dangerous allergic reactions,” warns the GFI.

Some early research has been done about consumer understanding of different shorthand terms for labeling these products, including recent studies of cultivated seafood labeling by Dr. William Hallman of Rutgers University and the Yale Center for Customer Insights, US.

“This research contains early insights into consumer thinking, but also reflects the unavoidable limitation that American consumers are not yet broadly familiar with these products,” notes the GFI.

“FDA should ensure that any requirements it imposes are consistent with the way consumers understand the words used on cultivated seafood labels,” it continues.

Close up of BlueNalu's whole-muscle, cell-cultured yellowtail, beer-battered and deep-fried for fish tacos. (Credit: BlueNalu)Calls for uniformity and simplicity
The FDA requires brands to determine the “common or usual name” to put on the label of all its packaged seafood brought to market. BlueNalu has led the charge in helping to resolve the question about how to label seafood products that are not wild-caught or farm-raised, but produced directly from fish cells. 

BlueNalu submitted a letter to the Food and Drug Administration in response to its Request for Information, which aligns with key criteria and findings set forth by Dr. Hallman in his peer-reviewed, published consumer research. 

In addition, BlueNalu initiated a conversation with the National Fisheries Institute in Fall 2020, which has resulted in a joint-letter to the FDA co-authored by the Alliance for Meat Poultry and Seafood Innovation (AMPS Innovation) and the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) that urges the agency to adopt and memorialize the term cell-cultured to support uniform labeling within the seafood category, and consistency across all product categories.

“We applaud the National Fisheries Institute and AMPS Innovation for uniting behind the term ‘cell-cultured’ and are delighted that a super-majority of AMPS member companies have agreed to this term. Now is the time for disparaging and misleading terms such as ‘clean’ and ‘lab-grown’  to be laid to rest,” says Lou Cooperhouse, president & CEO of BlueNalu

BlueNalu refers to its seafood as “cell-cultured” or produced through “cellular aquaculture.” Generally, companies specializing in cellular agriculture have embraced these terminologies, over the “lab-grown” positioning.

BlueNalu's whole-muscle, cell-cultured yellowtail prepared in a poke bowl. (Credit: BlueNalu)Protecting commercial free speech
As the alternative protein sector sees unprecedented growth, plant-based meat producers have faced similar labeling restrictions in proposed “meaty” labeling bans that limit the use of “burger” and “sausage” terms in meat analogs. Dairy-free players have come up against similar regulatory proposals.

Last July, pro-plant-based NGOs slammed the EU-proposed ban on meat terminology in vegan products, calling this an “insult to the public’s intelligence.”

In its campaign to ease the cell-based path to market, GFI is now urging the FDA to offer open-ended guidance on permissible labeling approaches, rather than mandating the use of one specific term through rule-making.

“This approach would allow time for consumer understanding of relevant terminology to develop, and for new data on that understanding to be gathered,” it stresses.

“It also would help prevent possible consumer confusion in the future, while also protecting commercial free speech interests.”

The GFI concludes that labeling related to production processes would be appropriate, if it is shown that there are measurable differences between certain cultivated seafood products and conventional products that are meaningful to consumers.

By Benjamin Ferrer