States Are Taking Action Against Lab-Grown 'Meat'

by Chris Queen | 11:46 AM on May 19, 2025

Photo and steak by the author.

As a red-blooded American male, I believe that there’s nothing like a good steak (just like the one in the featured image from the estimable VodkaPundit), some fried chicken, pulled pork, or shrimp off the grill. I’m blessed to have several farm stores near me that allow me to get the best quality meat.

One thing that won’t touch my lips as long as I can help it is lab-grown “meat.” It sounds gross, and it can’t be as good as real meat. Thankfully, a growing chorus of states is taking action regarding the nasty stuff, and Montana is the latest state to do so.

Gov. Greg Gianforte (R-Mont.) signed HB401 into law at the beginning of this month; that law bans the manufacture, sale, and distribution of lab-grown “meat.”

“If you’ve ever had the pleasure of enjoying a cut of Montana beef, you know there is no substitute,” Gianforte announced in a press release. “By signing House Bill 401 into law, I am proud to defend our way of life and the hardworking Montana ranchers who produce the best beef in the world.”

Additionally, National Hog Farmer reports that “Indiana took another route this week, issuing a two-year moratorium on the products from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2027. Following the temporary ban, cultivated meat products will then be required to display the phrase ‘this is an imitation meat product.’”

Nebraska has a bill in front of its legislature that would outlaw cultivated meat products, although some legislators are trying to amend the bill to make it a labeling requirement rather than a ban. Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida have enacted legislation targeting lab-grown “meat.”

However, Florida is now facing a legal challenge to the 2024 state law from UPSIDE Foods, Inc. The California-based manufacturer of lab-grown poultry products claims the ban violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution because it was "enacted to shield in-state producers of conventional meat from competition from out-of-state producers of cultivated meat." The lawsuit also argues that Florida’s law is preempted under federal laws that regulate the interstate market for meat and poultry products.

Of course, the biggest argument in favor of lab-grown “meat” is that it’s more sustainable than real meat, but organizations like the Center for the Environment and Welfare and a study from the University of California, Davis say otherwise. The UC Davis study discovered that the potential for global warming (so take it with a grain of salt) from fake meat creation in a lab is anywhere from four to 25 times higher!

“The lab-grown meat sector will continue to face headwinds as consumers and lawmakers learn more about the use of ‘immortalized cells’ and the lack of long-term nutritional and health studies around the product," Jack Hubbard, CEW executive director, told National Hog Farmer. “We are seeing a bipartisan consumer movement against the experimental product that we believe will intensify as more learn about how lab-grown meat is manufactured."

I’m glad states are taking action, and I hope more states will follow suit. At the absolute least, consumers ought to know what they’re getting. But ideally, nasty fake meat from a lab should never make it onto store shelves.

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Chris Queen is an editor and columnist at PJ Media. He's a UGA alum (#DGD), a fan of anything involving his beloved Georgia Bulldogs, and an amateur Disney historian. He's a Certified Bourbon Steward, but that doesn't make him a bourbon snob.

Subscribe to his Substack (for free), buy his book Neon Crosses, and follow him on X. For media inquiries, please contact *****@*****.tld.

Read more by Chris Queen

ARTICLE SOURCE: https://pjmedia.com/chris-queen/2025/05/19/states-are-taking-action-against-lab-grown-meat-n4939937

Good news. Now if the whole country would get on board and run this completely out of this country.


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