Evidence for the Common or Usual Name for Plant-Based Food Products

Authors

  • Adam Feltz Orcid
    Department of Psychology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
  • Silke Feltz Orcid
    Department of Psychology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
  • Uyen Hoang Orcid
    Department of Psychology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
  • Jenna Holt Orcid
    Department of Psychology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
  • Yangying Liu Orcid
    Department of Psychology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA

Abstract

Common or usual names for food products are important for regulation and consumer understanding. Because some plant-based products aimed at mimicking animal-based products are relatively new, there is little evidence concerning whether those products have common or usual names, and if they do, what those common or usual names might look like. We present evidence from a survey (Study 1) based on vocabulary tests (N = 181) suggesting that using plant-based qualifiers (e.g., ‘veggie’) along with traditional animal terms (e.g., ‘chicken’) is commonly used to identify plant-based meat and dairy analogues. These results are complemented by the results of Study 2 that takes data from posts on social media. Co-occurrence analyses on social media posts indicated that plant-based + animal terms are often used to describe plant-based meat and dairy analogues. Together, these results suggest that consumers may already have common or usual names for many plant-based meat and dairy analogues that often involve plant-based + animal terms. These results may help guide or inform regulations involving plant-based meat and dairy analogues. Changing labels from the common or usual names may reduce consumption of plant-based meat analogues potentially impacting both consumer and animal welfare.