Public misinformation on Cultured Meat- a thematic analysis of narratives on X (Twitter)

Cultured meat (CM) has gained attention as a sustainable and ethical alternative to conventional animal agriculture, yet public opinions often reflect resistance shaped by misinformation. This preliminary study investigates how conspiracy-themed misinformation circulates in Twitter (X) discussions on CM and identified narrative patterns that may influence public perception and commercialisation pathways. Over 13,000 tweets were obtained through data mining and analysed using unsupervised machine learning technique for topic modelling BERTopic. This process resulted in the identification of 267 distinct topic clusters, which served as a starting point for further qualitative interpretation. Topic clusters generated through BERTopic provided a useful foundation, with manual thematic analysis applied to develop meaningful thematic structures through human-led interpretation. Misinformation was identified based on recurring patterns of exaggerated claims, speculative links, and strong ideological language. Three main categories emerged: narratives about elite control, health concerns related to biotechnology, and criticism of economic and political systems. These appeared across multiple tweets and were often expressed in emotionally charged terms. Findings suggest that public narratives around CM include misinformation components that are embedded in broader symbolic and ideological narratives, rather than being purely informational. This study contributes to research on social resistance to food innovation by highlighting the role of misinformation and demonstrating the value of social media analysis in capturing early-stage public narratives around emerging food technologies.