Table 1. Examples of potential food frauds in conventional and cultured meat industries

Type Definition Conventional Cultivated
Adulteration Intentional removal, replacement or addition of food ingredient(s) to decrease production costs, and improve shelf-life Use of chicken meat in beef patties Use of conventional chicken meat in cultivated chicken nuggets
Inclusion of horse meat in beef loaf Use of mouse myoblasts for cell sheet-based porcine meat
Counterfeiting Illegal production of established food products without food safety assurance A branded meatloaf manufactured and sold as the “real” product by an unauthorized manufacturer Use of the same label and packaging of cultivated meat for conventional meat
Labeling meat products containing pork with halal certification Hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP)-certified labeling of non-HACCP-certified cultivated meat products
Simulation Designed to look alike but with lesser quality Plant protein extrusion to simulate meat strands in chicken nuggets 3D-printed steak produced by Company A using Wagyu-sourced muscle cell imitated by Company B with non-Wagyu-sourced muscle cells labeled as “Wagyu”
Use of food coloring agents to imitate the smoked color of smoked sausages Imitation of a plant protein scaffold-based cultivated meat by mixing conventional meat mush with extruded plant protein
Tampering Intentional product contamination to potentially cause harm the consumer or a company Putting sewing pins in meat products sold in grocery stores Addition of contaminants to commercial cultivated meat products to destroy company reputation
Inoculating pathogens in fresh meat Intentional contamination during cultured meat processing by a production worker