Alabama just banned the sale of lab-grown meat.

Lab-grown meat isn’t an everyday product yet—and some states are trying to make sure it never is.

Alabama recently banned the production and sale of farmed meat. Reported on Thursday. When the law takes effect in October, anyone found guilty of manufacturing, selling or distributing lab-grown meat could face up to three months in prison and a $500 fine.

A Southern state became the second state to ban farmed meat in recent days: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a similar bill in the Sunshine State earlier this month, it was noted. Those two bans mean about 28 million Americans live where lab-grown meat is illegal, even though the Alabama bill allows higher education institutions and government departments to conduct research in the emerging field. .

Supporters of lab-grown meat are understandably worried about the new rules. “Legislation to ban farmed meat is a reckless move that ignores food safety experts and science, stifles consumer choice and stifles American innovation,” said Sean Edgett, Chief Legal Officer of Upside Foods. Is.” “It makes politicians the food police, and it ignores the food safety experts at the USDA and FDA who have deemed it safe.” (Upside Foods is one of only two companies approved to sell farmed meat in the United States.)

Lab-grown meat — which uses real animal cells to grow protein — has emerged as an alternative to the traditional, climate-driven meat industry. It is seen as more environmentally friendly and animal-friendly than current methods of slaughter. Still, companies involved in the cultured meat industry have been slow to gain regulatory approval. And despite the fact that at one point some top chefs used lab-grown products in their restaurants, such as Dominick Crane cooking lab-grown chicken at his Bar Crane, there is currently no food establishment in the country. Wrong meat is not available. .

In Alabama, the farmed meat ban passed relatively easily: only 14 people voted against the bill in the state House, while none opposed it in the Senate. But those in the industry will likely fight the bill, and Upside Foods has already started a petition against the Florida law.

“With these short-sighted laws, politicians in Alabama and Florida are undermining consumer choice and criminalizing agricultural innovation,” said Pepin Andrew Toma, legislative director of the Good Food Institute. “At a time when American farmers and manufacturers face stiff competition from around the world, states can either support new initiatives that create thousands of good-paying jobs, or they can politicize and can police the food that people eat.”

Rob ReportRob Report