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Judge Denies Upside Foods’ Injunction Against Florida Cultivated Meat Ban

Oct. 15, 2024
Florida’s law criminalizing the sale and manufacture of cultivated meat will remain in effect as cultivated chicken processor’s lawsuit moves forward in court.

Cultivated meat processor Upside Foods’ request for a preliminary injunction against Florida’s ban on the sale and manufacture of cultivated meat was rejected by a federal judge late last week — meaning the law will remain in effect as the lawsuit winds its way through the legal process.

Federal judge Mark E. Walker denied the motion, saying Upside Foods “failed to meet its burden to establish that it is substantially likely to succeed on the merits of its express preemption claims under either the “ingredient requirement” or the “premises, facilities, and operations requirement” provisions” of the federal Poultry Products Inspection Act, which the company believes preempts the Florida law.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the ban into law May 1, 2024, and Upside Foods filed a lawsuit in August challenging whether the law was constitutional or not. The law doesn’t simply ban cultivated meat’s sale and manufacture, but it lays out criminal penalties for those actions. Under the law, it would be a second-degree misdemeanor to sell or manufacture the meat.

The Institute for Justice (IJ), a nonprofit public interest law firm that filed the lawsuit in partnership with Upside Foods, noted that the denial of the preliminary injunction doesn’t mean the case has been lost. Paul Sherman, senior attorney at IJ, said in a release: “The real fight is still ahead, and today’s ruling has no bearing on the final resolution of this case. We always expected the bulk of the lawsuit to be decided on its merits, and that’s exactly where we’re headed.”

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.

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