Mississippi Passes Bill Banning Lab-Grown Meat

The Mississippi House of Representatives conscionable passed a measure banning cultivated meat. This makes Mississippi the 3rd authorities to outlaw nutrient grown successful vats from tiny samples of carnal cells.

The Mississippi measure volition marque it amerciable for anyone to manufacture, sell, oregon administer cultivated nutrient successful the state. Violating the instrumentality would beryllium a misdemeanour, punishable by a good of nary much than $500 and/or up to 3 months successful region jail. Similar laws passed past twelvemonth successful Florida and Alabama besides transportation imaginable jailhouse presumption oregon fines of up to $500.

The measure present awaits the signature of Governor Tate Reeves and volition go instrumentality unless helium chooses to veto the bill. Mississippi’s agriculture commissioner, Andy Gipson, has criticized the cultivated nutrient industry, and helium supported a 2019 measure that prevented cultivated nutrient products being labeled arsenic nutrient successful the state. In 2024 helium published a station connected his website that commended the cultivated nutrient bans successful Florida and Alabama. “I privation my steak to travel from farm-raised beef, not a petri-dish from a lab,” helium wrote.

“This has a very, very, beardown consciousness of governmental theater,” says Suzi Gerber, enforcement manager of the Association for Meat, Poultry, and Seafood Innovation, a commercialized radical representing the cultivated nutrient industry. The existent interaction of the instrumentality successful immoderate of these states would beryllium minimal, she says, since cultivated nutrient hasn’t been disposable for merchantability successful immoderate of them.

Republican representatives Bill Pigott and Lester Carpenter introduced the Mississippi measure successful January 2025. It passed some houses without a azygous ballot successful opposition. But akin authorities successful different states has had little of a creaseless path. A Wyoming measure that would person outlawed cultivated nutrient was voted down successful its 3rd speechmaking successful the legislature successful February, portion a akin measure projected successful South Dakota besides failed to marque it done a legislature ballot successful February.

“I was amazed but encouraged by the results successful those states,” says Gerber. In Wyoming immoderate senators argued for amended packaging and labeling provisions alternatively of an outright prohibition connected cultivated meat, portion successful South Dakota immoderate legislators opposed the ban, arguing it would inhibit escaped trade.

Other states are considering authorities akin to that already passed successful Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. A measure introduced successful Georgia successful January would marque it amerciable to merchantability cultivated meat. In Nebraska a measure that would prohibit cultivated nutrient successful the authorities was introduced astatine the petition of Governor Jim Pillen successful January.

The Florida prohibition is presently being contested successful a tribunal lawsuit brought by the Californian cultivated nutrient steadfast Upside Foods and the Institute of Justice, a nonprofit nationalist involvement instrumentality firm. The lawsuit argues that the Florida prohibition violates 2 abstracted parts of the US Constitution, which screen interstate commerce and the narration betwixt national and authorities law. In October a national justice denied Upside Foods’ petition for a preliminary injunction that would person halted the enforcement of Florida’s prohibition connected cultivated meat.

The dependable drip of authorities bans has coincided with a downturn successful capitalist enthusiasm for cultivated meat. Just $226 cardinal was invested successful cultivated nutrient startups successful 2023, importantly down from $922 cardinal successful 2022. In aboriginal 2024 Upside Foods laid disconnected workers, portion California-based SciFiFoods unopen down altogether aboriginal that year.

But determination are immoderate signs that the manufacture is weathering these headwinds. On March 8, San Francisco–based cultivated nutrient institution Mission Barns announced that the Food and Drug Administration had nary further questions astir the information of its cultivated pork abdominous product, a large measurement toward selling the merchandise successful the US. Only 2 different companies, Upside Foods and Eat Just, person received a akin missive from the FDA. Now Mission Barns lone needs support from the US Department of Agriculture successful bid to motorboat successful the US.