Source: Feedstuffs, 13-5-2024
Alabama, the second State to ban the sale of laboratory-cultivated meat
Alabama has become the second state in the nation to ban the sale of cultivated meat. On Tuesday, Governor Kay Ivey signed bill SB23 into law, which makes the manufacture, sale or distribution of food products produced from cultured animal cells a Class C misdemeanour effective 1 October.
According to the bill’s fiscal note, civil penalties could range from $100 for a Class II violation to $10,000 for a Class V violation for food retail establishments that breach the bill’s provisions.
However, the legislation does not prevent any federal institution of higher education, or a person associated with a government entity or institution of higher education, from conducting research in Alabama on the production of cultivated food products.
Alabama’s ban follows the legal precedent set by Florida earlier this month. Governor Ron DeSantis signed bill SB 1084 into law, stating that the action aims to “stop the World Economic Forum’s goal of forcing the world to eat lab-grown meat and insects, ‘an overlooked source of protein'”. Instead, the state “will increase meat production and encourage residents to continue consuming and enjoying 100% real Florida beef”.
The first laboratory-cultivated meat was created in 2013 by Mark Post of the University of Maastricht. The cultivated meat burger was made from more than 20,000 strands of muscle tissue, cost over $325,000 and took two years to produce.
Today, more than 150 companies worldwide sell cell-cultivated meat, including 43 in the United States.
At least seven states have considered bills so far in 2024 to ban the sale, production or distribution of lab-grown meat, including Arizona, Iowa, Tennessee and Texas.
At the global level, the Italian parliament has banned the technology in its country. The bill is similar to one proposed in France, and Austria and Croatia could soon follow suit.