Two cultivated meat companies have filed a lawsuit against officials in Texas over the law that bans the sales of lab-grown meat in the state for two years.
California-based companies UPSIDE Foods, which makes cultivated chicken, and Wildtype, which makes cultivated salmon are suing Attorney General Ken Paxton, Texas Department of State Health Services, Texas Health and Human Services, and Travis County, accusing them of government overreach.
“This law has nothing to do with protecting public health and safety and everything to do with protecting conventional agriculture from innovative out-of-state competition,” said Paul Sherman, a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, a nonprofit law firm that is representing UPSIDE Foods and Wildtype. “That is not a legitimate use of government power.”
In June, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 261, which bans the sale of lab-grown meat in Texas for two years. Lab-grown meat, also known as cell cultivated meat or cultured meat, is made from taking animal cells and growing them in an incubator or bioreactor until they form an edible product.
Lawmakers expressed concerns during the Senate committee hearing on the bill that cultured meat will disrupt traditional family farms in Texas, as well as concerns over product labelling and safety.
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“We do believe that Americans should have the freedom to choose what to eat,” said Justin Kolbeck, a co-founder of Wildtype. “We think even if you hate the idea of cultivated seafood, we hope you agree that we’re on a slippery slope if we’re handing over intensely personal choices like what to feed ourselves and our families to the government.”
Sherman, the lead counsel on the case, added that the federal government has approved cultivated meat as safe for consumers. In 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave approval for two companies, UPSIDE Foods and GOOD Meat, to sell cell-cultivated chicken and a year later, the U.S. Department for Agriculture (USDA) approved the label of “cell-cultivated chicken” for the products.
As of July, four companies have received regulatory clearance to sell cultured meat in the United States, according to the Good Food Institute.
Texas lawmakers and the Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, who testified in favor of SB 261 before it was passed, said that they are concerned about the safety of cultured meat products.
“The USDA and The FDA have agreed that these products are safe,” Sherman said. “If that’s not good enough for some consumers, there’s a simple solution, don’t eat it.”
I basically buy that argument. I don’t buy the argument about protecting the cattle industry from the competition. If the FDA under a real President approved this for sale, I will accept that it’s safe to consume. We are all free to choose not to do so.
The story notes that this same group sued Florida in 2024 over a similar ban. That case is still pending. Here’s their page about the Texas suit for more information. For those of you keeping score at home, at present you can get raw milk and ivermectin in Texas. You cannot at this time get lab-grown meat. Whether or not you can get THC remains undetermined. I’ll keep an eye on this.
I have no more than a passing interest in lab meat, but re: “…we hope you agree that we’re on a slippery slope if we’re handing over intensely personal choices like what to feed ourselves and our families to the government.”….
The Feds already semi-govern (via a very heavy frown) what can be fed to ourselves and/or our families. I don’t see anyone eating rat/dog/cat burgers, cyanide-concentrated apple seeds, or (drinking) unpasteurized milk or cheese products.