Missouri Department of Agriculture Taking the First Stab at Regulating Cell Based Meat

January 1, 2019, the Missouri Department of Agriculture amendment to the Meat Advertising Law went into effect. The amendment states: “Misrepresenting the cut, grade, brand or trade name, or weight or measure of any product, or misrepresenting a product as meat that is not derived from harvested production livestock or poultry is deemed a Class A Misdemeanor. The law will not apply if there is a prominent statement on the front of the package that the product is “plant-based,” “veggie,” “lab-grown,” “lab-created,” or a comparable qualifier; AND a prominent statement on the package that the product is “made from plants,” “grown in a lab,” or a comparable disclosure.”

Need to know: If you write meat on a product sold in Missouri that is not derived from livestock or poultry you could be looking at up to one year in jail, a fine up to $2,000, or both.

Why we care: The last Agriculture Census in 2012 reported that Missouri had over $4 billion in annual livestock sales, ranking in the top 4 in the United States. Based on this information, we wonder what political and regulatory impact top 5 livestock producing state representatives have over the USDA and FDA labeling discussion? Could this state law pave the way for other top livestock producing states to follow suit?

Get to the point: Qualifying cell based meat as grown in a lab is misleading. On an industrialized scale, cell based meat will be grown in a food production facility. Meat made from animal cells is accurate, but in the state of Missouri, consumers won’t be afforded the luxury of transparency (at least for now).