Texas to Ban Sale, Production of “Lab-Grown” Meat

Starting in September, Texas will begin a two-year ban on the sale and production of meat products made using cutting-edge cell culturing techniques, more colloquially known as “lab-grown” meat, though plant-based meat alternatives will not be affected.

Gov. Greg Abbott on June 20 made the ban official by signing Senate Bill 261 into law.

The legislation, written by Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, prohibits “the offering for sale or sale of cell-cultured protein for human consumption.” Enforcement and penalties would be handled under the area of state law governing embargoed and mislabeled foods, handled by health inspection.

SB 261 passed out of the Legislature with little support from Democrats. 

Unlike plant-based meat alternatives, such as those offered by Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat, cell-cultured meat is real animal meat, grown from animal cells in steel tanks and then shaped into patties or nuggets.

Proponents argue that cultivated meat is better for the environment because it uses less resources than raising animals for slaughter, and sidesteps the moral ramifications of killing animals for food.

But the technology is still in its infancy, and cell-cultured meat is not widely available to consumers.

Still, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller in a Thursday statement hailed the ban as a “massive win” for ranchers, farmers and the Texas meat market, which makes up about 15% of beef produced in the U.S.

“Texans have a God-given right to know what’s on their plate, and for millions of Texans, it better come from a pasture, not a lab,” Miller added. “It’s plain cowboy logic that we must safeguard our real, authentic meat industry from synthetic alternatives.”