Nebraska and Montana in May became the fourth and fifth states to ban cultured meat.
The Nebraska governor on May 20 signed LB246, “Prohibit cultivated-protein food products under the Nebraska Pure Food Act and provide a deceptive trade practice.” Montana HB 401 also outlawed the new technology in May.
Nebraska’s LB246 was introduced Jan. 14 of this year by state Sen. Barry DeKay at the request of Gov. Jim Pillen. It prohibits the production, import, distribution, promotion, display or sale of any cultivated-protein food in Nebraska. LB246 passed on a 38-11 vote.
The bill defines cultivated-protein foods, in part, as “having one or more sensory attributes that resemble a type of tissue originating from an agricultural food animal but that, in lieu of being derived from meat processing, is derived from manufacturing cells.”
Under the bill, lab-grown meat will be considered an adulterated food product and prohibited from manufacture or sale in Nebraska. In addition to penalties for adulterated foods under the Pure Food Act, the production and sale of lab-grown meat will be subject to penalties under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, enforced by the attorney general.
In Montana, starting this Oct. 1, any retail food establishment that manufactures, sells, or distributes cell-cultured edible product is subject to suspension of their license and could be found guilty of a misdemeanor and faced with fines and imprisonment if convicted.
Mississippi outlawed cultivated meat in March of this year, with the law going into effect this July 1. Florida started it all on May 1, 2024, when it became the first state to ban cultivated meat; Alabama followed suit that same month. Other state legislatures are debating similar bills.
The Florida ban, which went into effect July 1, 2024, is being challenged in court by cultured meat interests. A lawsuit challenging the Florida law moved forward last month. A U.S. District Court judge denied the state’s petition to dismiss the suit by Upside Foods and others, who are basing their case on a Constitutional clause that prohibits states from interfering in certain forms of interstate commerce.
