Terminology of plant-based meat alternatives A survey among Hungarian food science, food technology and nutrition experts

Abstract

In order to contribute to the correct information of consumers, we sought the most appropriate, objective and widely used name in the literature for foods that are similar to meat products and are made exclusively from plant-based ingredients, called “plant-based meat alternatives” or “meat analogues”. It is necessary to use terms that are not misleading, objective and informative, but at the same time easy to understand. A personal questionnaire survey was carried out with 58 native Hungarianspeaking food science, food technology and nutrition professionals to find the most professionally accepted, consensus-based Hungarian terms for the product group. Based on the results of our survey, we recommend the use of the terms “substitute” and “substitute” for (meat), as opposed to “kind”, “analogue”, “alternative” and “imitation” for (meat), which were generally rejected. The adjective structure “vegetable” is generally more accepted than the adjective structure “vegetable”.