Alternative Animal Feedstuffs and Consumer Preferences

Providing consumers with enough information about alternative proteins' health and environmental benefits increases their likelihood of buying chicken raised on them.

In this case, more intense red and yellow shades of colors can be seen in the meat from alternative poultry feed, says the University of Alberta, Canada, which is why consumers need to be educated about it, so it increases the acceptance.

While this is all under experiment, the team is very hopeful and wants the food producers and policymakers to be ready beforehand. Such poultry if made to the shelves needs to be properly labeled, for which producers need to act proactively. It will also overcome the chances of rejection of such products.

Conventionally, soybean is used as livestock feed globally, and since it uses large quantities of land and water, so it has been affecting the climate. Now, scientists are trying to alternatively replace it with insects and algae, but consumers might not accept this idea soon.

The poultry raised on environmentally beneficial insects and an algal diet has an intense red and yellow shade in the meat, and when participants of the study were asked to pick between this and average meat after being informed about the sustainability and health attributes. The reaction was mixed.

“The results show that sharing information can be both a blessing and a curse". Anders concluded that mainstream western consumers might feel disgusted by insect- and algae-derived foods.