PHOENIX 鈥 It won鈥檛 be illegal in 蜜柚直播 to call food products grown in a laboratory 鈥渕eat,鈥欌 鈥減oultry鈥欌 or 鈥渇ish.鈥欌
But marketers will have to add a clear label specifying it鈥檚 not from a live animal.
A bill that would have banned use of those terms on lab-grown items sold in 蜜柚直播 stores, pushed by a Republican House member, was watered down in the state Senate on Wednesday. Sen. John Kavanagh added an amendment that stripped out the prohibition on calling lab-grown proteins by their familiar names.
鈥淭his bill originally started out as a bill which simply said that if meat is cultured in a lab, which is a new technology, that it couldn鈥檛 be called meat,鈥欌 Kavanagh told fellow senators. He called that 鈥渒ind of ridiculous.鈥欌
The Fountain Hills Republican said he worked with the bill sponsor, Rep. Quang Nguyen, R-Prescott Valley, to turn what Kavanagh called a 鈥渒ind of a protectionist bill鈥欌 into one that instead will ensure consumers are fully aware of what they鈥檙e buying.
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鈥淚f you sell this, you have to make people know that they鈥檙e not getting good old-fashioned off-the-hoof meat or fish or poultry or chicken or lamb or goat,鈥欌 Kavanagh said.
鈥淵ou can call it 鈥榤eat,鈥 but you have to use an adjective such as cell cultured, lab-grown, etc. And that has to be in prominent type and close proximity to the word 鈥榤eat,鈥 鈥樷 he said.
The bill now needs a formal Senate vote and then must return to the House for final approval before heading to Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs for her signature or veto.
Cattle ranchers鈥 role
The disclosure requirement is far different from the original bill, which had protectionist aspects.
Cattle growers pushed House Bill 2244, testifying that the emerging market for lab-grown protein products is a problem for the industry. GOP House lawmakers agreed.
鈥淲e want to protect our cattle and our ranches,鈥欌 Rep. Michael Carbone, R-Buckeye, said during a House hearing.
But the measure also dabbled in the emerging markets for plant-based meat substitutes and the conundrum that marketers and consumers find themselves in when buying or selling those products.
House members debated whether current labeling rules made sure people knew what they were buying.
Plant-based 鈥渂urgers鈥欌 got a cold shoulder from a Globe Republican who raises beef cattle.
鈥淲hat they find is these plant-based products, they鈥檙e not all what they appear to be,鈥欌 Rep. David Cook said. For proper nutrition, he said, you need meat 鈥渇rom a real steak, from a carcass.鈥欌
Opposition to the measure in the House came from a lobbyist for the Good Food Institute, a nonprofit that says it is focused 鈥渙n making plant-based and cultivated meat delicious, affordable and accessible.鈥欌
Lobbyist Drake Jamali told a House committee in January that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration already requires anything produced in a lab to be labeled a 鈥渃ell cultured鈥欌 or 鈥渃ell cultivated鈥欌 product. That鈥檚 enough to inform shoppers that what they鈥檙e buying never came from a live animal, he said.
Kavanagh said grocers and other food industry groups were also concerned about different labeling rules being enacted in 蜜柚直播. He said he worked with them as well as cattle growers and Nguyen to come up with the changes adopted by the Senate on Wednesday.
No ban on sales
A much broader bill that would have put in place an outright ban on the sale or production of any 鈥渃ell-cultured animal product for human or animal consumption鈥欌 appears dead for the year.
Its sponsor, Rep. David Marshall, R-Snowflake, called it 鈥渁 matter of statewide concern necessary to protect public health.鈥欌
But the verbiage of his HB 2121 also suggested another motive: protection of the state鈥檚 cattle ranchers. In fact, his legislation would have allowed anyone whose business is 鈥渁dversely affected鈥欌 by the sale of lab-grown meats to sue to stop the practice and be able to collect damages of up to $100,000.
It passed the House with only support from majority Republicans in February but never got a hearing in the Senate. Marshall had vowed to make major changes to his proposal, but they never came.