CELLULAR AGRICULTURE AUSTRALIA BAEFM88Y75I Talk About Cellular Agriculture Effectively Instructions

CELLULAR AGRICULTURE AUSTRALIA BAEFM88Y75I Talk About Cellular

Agriculture Effectively

Product Information

Specifications

• Product Name: Media Guide – How to talk about cellular agriculture effectively
• Contents: Introduction, Tips, Rules of thumb, Technologies and products, Cell cultivation, Precision fermentation, Molecular farming, Gas fermentation, Cellular agriculture images guidelines, Get in touch, Acknowledgements

Product Usage Instructions

Introduction
The Media Guide aims to provide media professionals with recommended terms and descriptions for communicating about cellular agriculture effectively. It emphasizes the importance of accurate and consistent nomenclature to build trust and acceptance in this emerging sector.

• A few tips before you begin:
  Be aware of language levels and use the provided guide to ensure accurate communication about cellular agriculture.

• Rules of thumb for reporting on cellular agriculture:
  Follow the recommended terms and descriptions provided in the guide to maintain accuracy and consistency in reporting on cellular agriculture.

• Cell cultivation:
  Learn how cell cultivation works to produce new ingredients, food, and agricultural products using cells and innovative technologies.

• Precision fermentation:
  Understand how precision fermentation works to create products and reduce carbon emissions. Explore the range of products made through this process.

• Molecular farming
  Discover how molecular farming operates to generate new agricultural products. Learn about the process and the products it can produce.

• Gas fermentation:
  Explore the workings of gas fermentation in cellular agriculture. Understand how this technology contributes to creatingnew ingredients and products.

FAQ

What is the problem with ‘lab-grown’?
‘Lab-grown’ is discouraged due to inaccuracies and negative connotations. Final products are not made in labs but in food manufacturing facilities, making the term misleading. It has been shown to undermine consumer acceptance and is considered unappealing based on research.

Media Guide
How to talk about cellular agriculture effectively

Acknowledgements
Cellular Agriculture Australia (CAA) extends its thanks to everyone who has contributed to the development of this project. In particular, we’d like to thank Hannah Clayton, Kim Berry, and Danielle Bowling for their media and communications expertise.

Introduction

The aim of this guide is to provide media professionals with a set of recommended terms and descriptions for use when communicating about cellular agriculture.
Cellular agriculture uses cells and innovative technologies including cell cultivation, precision fermentation, molecular farming, and gas fermentation to produce new ingredients, food, and agricultural products.
The use of accurate and consistent nomenclature is critical for building the familiarity and trust needed to ensure the growth and acceptance of this emerging sector and the products it will create.
However, there is currently a wide range of language being used by the media and others to talk about the cellular agriculture sector, the technologies being used, and the products being created. More often than not, language use is inaccurate, inconsistent, and derogatory, for example:

• Lab-Grown Animal-Free Dairy Protein a Game-Changer For Dairy Industry
• Precision fermentation of milk proteins produces tasty fake milk products and reduces carbon emissions
• Lab-grown meat: Could Australtiray cohpatniogne ?its laws for this ‘cell-based’ poul

One recent 2023 Australian article used
‘lab-grown’, ‘cultured meat’, and ‘cultivated’ meat within the first two sentences, and later added ‘cell-grown’ as well.
In response to these observations, Cellular Agriculture Australia has developed this guide through secondary research and consultation with academic and industry stakeholders currently engaged with Australia’s cellular agriculture sector.
This guide is designed to support journalists and media representatives in the development of content for print and broadcast media.

What’s the problem with ‘lab-grown’?
Although ‘lab-grown’ is commonly used in media, we strongly advise against its use because:

• Foundational technologies are being developed in laboratories, however, final products will be made in food manufacturing facilities, making the term inaccurate and misleading.
• It is a derogatory term with negative connotations that have been proven to undermine consumer acceptance.

Reinforcing this, 2022 Research commissioned by GFI found that ‘lab-grown’ was both inaccurate and unappealing.

A few tips before you begin

Be aware of language levels: The language in this guide has been broken down into three levels (See Figure 1 below for further clarification):

• Sector – Relates to the entire cellular agriculture sector
• Technology – Describes the technology and processes used within cellular agriculture
• Product category – Describes an overarching category of products that can be produced using cellular agriculture technologies

Read descriptions in parallel : We recommend that ‘product category’ terms are best read in parallel with ‘technology’ terms. For example, it is difficult to understand (and articulate) what cultivated meat is without a basic understanding of the process of cell cultivation.
Choose the level of detail right for you: Most descriptions include both short and long-form descriptions.
Square brackets are designed to be populated with the terminology that is relevant to the specific product being talked about; for example, ‘cultivated [meat]’ would become ‘cultivated lamb’.

Rules of thumb for reporting on cellular agriculture

1. Be consistent
   The consistent use of terminology throughout a given piece of content is critical to avoid confusion and perpetuation of unsuitable terms. Refrain from switching between terms unnecessarily.

2. Be aware of conflating terms
   A common mistake is to conflate cellular agriculture with cultivated meat. Ensure you acknowledge the full range of technologies and products encompassed by the term ‘cellular agriculture’. See Figure 1. below for further clarification.

3. Double check the facts
   Ensure accuracy in how you represent the nature of companies, technologies, and products to avoid reinforcing misinformation.

4. Avoid loaded terms
   These terms are likely to engender a strong emotional response.

5. Avoid derogatory terms
   These terms disparage either cellular agriculture or traditional agricultural products.

6. Substantiate claims
   Only include claims that are able to be substantiated with robust and reputable data (e.g. energy or emissions reductions).

7. Avoid technical language
   Unnecessary technical language can confuse or alienate readers/audiences.

How does it all fit together?

Below: Forged cultured quail parfait by Vow

Cellular agriculture: Technologies & products

Description

Short version
Involves isolating and cultivating cells from animals to make products such as meat, seafood, leather, and fat; or from plants to make products like coffee and chocolate.
More detail
The process involves taking cells from an animal or plant and placing them into an environment that provides them with the nutrients and conditions they need to grow.
Here, they first multiply in number and then mature into specific tissues such as muscle and fat. In some cases, the cell multiplication and maturation phases could occur simultaneously.
Once mature, the tissues are collected and commonly combined with other ingredients to make a range of final products.
These products will be made in food manufacturing facilities.

Cell cultivation:
What products does it make?

Description

Short version
Cultivated [meat] is [meat] that is produced by directly cultivating [animal] cells.
Final products can be indistinguishable from traditional [meat] or intentionally different to create new and unique products.

DO   SAY
“Indistinguishable from traditional chocolate, Company B’s cultivated chocolate is produced by directly cultivating cocoa cells.”

DON’T SAY
“Lab-grown chicken is identical to traditional chicken.”

Note
At time of writing (April 2024), the Australian regulator Food Standards Australia & New Zealand (FSANZ) has proposed that the term “cell-cultured” be mandatory on all future product labelling of cultivated meat products as a part of their current assessment of the first Australian application for cultivated meat.
However, since this proposed approach is subject to change and will not be legislated until late 2024, CAA will maintain ‘cultivated’ as its preferred term since this is most widely agreed upon within the Asia-Pacific region.

Precision fermentation: How does it work?

To describe the process used to make precision-fermented ingredients and products like animal-free dairy milk, use the term ‘precision fermentation’.

Description

• Short version
  • Precision fermentation harnesses microorganisms (yeast, bacteria, etc.) to produce specific functional ingredients.
  • These ingredients can be used in various food and agricultural products, such as egg and dairy proteins, fats, and oils.
• More detail
  • The process typically involves inserting the gene of a target ingredient into a microorganism (yeast, bacteria, etc.).
  • This microorganism then ferments to produce the targeted functional ingredient, which is then extracted from the microorganism and purified.
  • This process takes place in food manufacturing facilities.
  • The target ingredient can then be used in existing products or to create new ones.

Precision fermentation: What products does it make?

Precision-fermented [ingredient] is the language used to describe the products produced using precision fermentation technology.

DO SAY
“Company A has developed precision-fermented casein to create delicious animal-free dairy milk”

DON’T SAY
“Precision-fermented dairy is created using dairy proteins and is identical to traditional cow’s milk”

Note: ‘Animal-free’ is a sub-category, not a sector-level term since it only encompasses products typically derived from animals and excludes those such as precision-fermented vanillin that is typically derived from plants.

Description

Short version
Precision-fermented [ingredient], is [ingredient] produced using precision fermentation.
The [ingredient] can be functionally equivalent to that made using traditional methods and used to enhance existing product formulations or to create new ones.

Molecular farming: How does it work?

Description

• Short version
  • Molecular farming is an emerging technology that uses plants and the power of photosynthesis to produce targeted functional ingredients such as dairy proteins.
• More detail
  • The process starts by inserting the genetic information relating to a target ingredient into a plant.
  • This can be done in two ways, the first (transient expression) allows the plant to produce the target ingredient once, and the second (stable transformation) allows the plant and subsequent generations of the plant to
  • produce the target ingredient.
  • In either case, as the plants are grown, they produce the target ingredient within themselves.
  • The plants (or part of the plants) are then harvested where the target ingredient is extracted and purified.

Gas fermentation: How does it work?

Description

• Short version
  • Gas fermentation harnesses microorganisms to produce specific functional ingredients (e.g. proteins) using a unique feedstock – a gas.
• More detail
  • Gas fermentation commonly involves working with microorganisms that can live in water. The microorganisms are fed tiny bubbles of gas containing carbon and energy, through, for example, CO2. It is the use of a gaseous feedstock that is unique to gas fermentation.
  • In some cases, the gas fermentation process starts by inserting the gene of a target ingredient into a microorganism. In others, microorganisms naturally utilize gaseous feedstocks.
  • The process of gas fermentation can produce a range of targeted functional ingredients.

Cellular agriculture images

The poor use of images can cause just as much harm to public understanding and acceptance of cellular agriculture technologies.
We are currently in the process of developing a library of high-quality images that showcase the current work of the Australian cellular agriculture sector. In the meantime, you may wish to consult The Good Food Institute’s image library, which contains high-quality photos from international cellular agriculture companies.

Do use

• Images of actual cellular agriculture products
• People in cellular agriculture e.g. company founders and their teams
• People enjoying food – images of people tasting cellular agriculture food products
• Consumer imagery (e.g. people shopping, dining)
• Food service providers
• cooking/preparing products
• Manufacturing facilities, where relevant e.g. in an article about a company scaling up production

Below: Cultivated lamb tacos by Magic Valley

Above: Tastilux animal-free fat by Nourish Ingredients

Below: Christopher Hopkins / The Guardian -Tasting Magic valley’s dumpling

Courtesy: National Geographic

Courtesy: Getty Images

Avoid

• Images of laboratories, petri dishes, test tubes, PPE, lab coats, etc.
• Futuristic AI-generated imagery
• Images that are clearly traditional food products (e.g. roast whole chicken) instead of cellular agriculture products
• Stock images of DNA, cells, etc.
• Animal-cruelty and welfare-related images

About Us
Cellular Agriculture Australia (CAA) is a registered Australian not-for-profit dedicated to advancing Australia’s cellular agriculture sector.
Our mission is to build the ecosystem to position Australia as a leader in cellular agriculture and to enable its impact potential.
We are inclusive and participatory in our approach and engage with a broad range of stakeholders on key thematic areas, including navigating regulation, policy & advocacy, sector-building, targeted communications and awareness- raising, and accountability.

If you’re seeking additional information on the cellular agriculture sector in Australia, the following resources may be helpful:

• Extended version of this guide
• Our FAQs page
• Our website

Get in Touch

If you have any questions about the content of this guide, or would like to be put in contact with relevant industry representatives, please don’t hesitate to contact us at: media@cellagaustralia.org

• cellularagricultureaustralia.org
• cellular-agriculture.australia
• @cellagaustralia

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