TITLE:
Investigation of the Acceptability of Cultured Meat in University Students
AUTHORS:
Merve Kumru, Hulya Demir
KEYWORDS:
Cultured Meat, University Students
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.15 No.2,
February
29,
2024
ABSTRACT: Background: Over the past 20 years, cultured meat has drawn a
lot of public attention as a potential solution to issues with animal
husbandry, including inadequate use of
natural sources, improper animal welfare practices, and possible risks
to public health and safety. The novel method of producing meat through culture
reduces the need for animals to produce muscle fiber, thereby obviating the necessity for animal slaughter.
Apart from its ethical advantages, cultured meat presents a possible way to
fulfill the expanding need for food among growing populations. The
purpose of this research was to find out whether Turkish students would be
willing to pay for and accept cultured meat.
Technique: Method: 371 university students who willingly
consented to fill out a questionnaire and provide demographic data make up the
research sample. Questions from previous studies on the acceptability of
cultured meat were compiled to create the survey. The research’s data
collection took place in March and April of 2022. The research was completed in
June 2022 after the data had been processed and analyzed. Results: The
results showed that the majority of participants were female and had omnivorous
eating habits. Based on the results of the Bonferroni correction test, students
with a higher intention to purchase and consume cultured meat were those who received economics and business education.
Students with two years of university education had a higher overall survey
score than those with four years of education (p (using
cultured meat as an alternative to industrial meat) and Factor 3 (consuming and
purchasing it) section points (r = -109, p = 0.036) (r = -0.121, p =
0.019). In conclusion, university students generally have a negative outlook on
health-related issues, such as eating cultured meat as an alternative.