Lab-Grown Meat Is Now Banned in 2 States

Alabama follows Florida's lead
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 3, 2024 12:35 PM CDT
Updated May 14, 2024 1:39 PM CDT
DeSantis Bans Lab-Grown Meat
"Florida is fighting back against the global elite's plan to force the world to eat meat grown in a petri dish," DeSantis said.   (AP Photo/Phil Sears, File)
UPDATE May 14, 2024 1:39 PM CDT

Alabama has become the second state to ban the sale of a kind of meat that isn't being widely sold. Gov. Kay Ivey has signed a law banning, "the manufacture, sale, or distribution of food products made from cultured animal cells," aka lab-grown meat or "cultivated" meat, CBS News reports. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis banned lab-grown meat earlier this month. Ban supporters argue that it protects cattle ranchers from lab-grown competition, reports USA Today. Some, including DeSantis, also claim that global "elites" are planning to force the world to eat "meat grown in a petri dish." Cultivated meat companies argue that consumers should have the right to choose.

May 3, 2024 12:35 PM CDT

If lab-grown meat ever reaches the stage where it is widely available commercially, it will be carnis non grata in Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation this week to ban the sale of lab-grown meat in the state, and a news release from his office cites "the World Economic Forum's goal of forcing the world to eat lab-grown meat and insects." The ban is the first of its kind in the nation, though Alabama, Arizona, and Tennessee are also considering bans, the BBC reports.

  • Industry has taken small steps forward: The WEF has suggested that lab-grown meat, also known as cultured meat, could be a "sustainable and humane alternative to conventional meat production." The process involves using nutrients to grow samples of animal cells into meat with the same taste and texture as conventional meat. Federal regulators approved the sale of "cultivated chicken" last year. The products, however, were only available for a limited time at two high-end restaurants, Vox reports. Experts believe it could be decades before it is possible to produce lab-grown meat at competitive prices.

  • The 'global elite:' "Florida is fighting back against the global elite's plan to force the world to eat meat grown in a petri dish or bugs to achieve their authoritarian goals," DeSantis said in a statement." Our administration will continue to focus on investing in our local farmers and ranchers, and we will save our beef."
  • Opposition: Opponents of the legislation, which also bans the production of cultivated meat in the state, said it was short-sighted for the state to ban an entire industry. "This type of discriminatory legislation jeopardizes the United States' leadership in biotechnology and enables countries like China to gain unfair advantage," cultivated meat startup Upside Foods told NBC News. In a post on X, Good Meat, another startup, said, "In a state that purportedly prides itself on being a land of freedom and individual liberty, its government is now telling consumers what meat they can or cannot purchase."
(More cultured meat stories.)

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