ban

Image: Governor Jim Pillen on Facebook
Politics & Law

Nebraska Governor Signs Executive Order Against Cultivated Meat, Aims for Full Ban in 2025

Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen has signed an executive order prohibiting state agencies from procuring cultivated meat products. The order also bars entities that contract with the state from “discriminating against natural-meat products” by choosing cultivated foods. Pillen now reportedly hopes to bring in legislation in 2025 that would prohibit any sale of cultivated meat products in Nebraska. Speaking at a news conference at Oak Barn Beef in West Point, he said Nebraska was entering “a full-blown attack on lab-grown meats and fake meat”. When asked if the executive order would restrict consumer choice, Pillen replied, “If there are Nebraskans that want to buy lab-grown meat, good for them, they’re just not going to do it in Nebraska.” A proposed cultivated meat ban in Tennessee was …

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Upside Foods, Florida You've Been Served

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Company News

Institute for Justice and UPSIDE Foods File Lawsuit Against State of Florida

In partnership with the cultivated chicken company UPSIDE Foods, the Institute for Justice (IJ) has filed a lawsuit against the Florida law banning cultivated meat. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill prohibiting the production, distribution, and sale of cultivated meat in the Sunshine State on May 1, 2024, and it went into effect on July 1. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida, argues that the ban on cultivated meat violates Constitutional provisions against protectionist measures “designed to favor in-state businesses at the expense of out-of-state competitors,” IJ stated. Here you can view a video created by IJ discussing the firm’s National Food Freedom initiative. The video features attorney Paul Sherman and Upside CEO Uma Valeti speaking on …

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Organisations and brands:

UMAMI Bioworks and Shiok Meats, have merged to establish a combined entity that will bring cultivated seafood closer to commercial viability.

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Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

Roundup: The Biggest News in Cultivated Meat and Seafood from the 1st Half of 2024

Although the cellular agriculture industry is traversing a consolidation phase and is facing the challenge of slower investor interest, the sector is building itself from the ground up, achieving all sorts of significant milestones — the first steps of what is set to become the fourth agricultural revolution. Here we look back on the biggest news stories in cultivated meat and seafood from H1 2024, and there have been several standout moments across different categories, as follows. Regulatory approvals France’s Gourmey became the first-ever company to apply to sell cultivated meat in the EU, marking a significant regulatory milestone. It submitted an application to EFSA for cultivated foie gras.  GOOD Meat announced the world’s first retail sales of cultivated meat in Singapore, making cultivated meat available for …

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Meatable, a Dutch producer of cell-based pork meat, has become the first company to hold an officially approved cultivated meat tasting in the European Union and the first in the Netherlands.

Image courtesy of Meatable © Bart Maat
Cultivated Meat

Austrian Agriculture Officials to Use Negative Survey Results to Advocate Against Cultivated Meat

A study commissioned by Austria’s Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry in Carinthia (a southern region in the Alps and and least densely populated state), found that 90% of respondents are unwilling to eat cultivated meat regularly, 72% expressed health risk concerns, and 82% even want to ban the technology. The survey questioned over 800 people aged 16 and older, and, according to Deputy Governor Martin Gruber (ÖVP), participants were informed neutrally and objectively about the production process before being asked whether they would consume “lab-grown” meat. “This vehement rejection is a confirmation of our fight against laboratory meat, plain and simple. It’s about preventing this fake meat on the EU market,” Gruber told local media. Siegfried Huber, President of the Carinthia Chamber of Agriculture, said, …

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CULT Food Science

© CULT Food Science
Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

CULT Food Science Pens Open Letter to Florida Government Opposing Cultivated Meat Ban

Cellular agriculture investment firm CULT Food Science Corp. has published an open letter to the Florida Government expressing the company’s opposition to the state’s ban on the sales of cultivated meat. “The notion that this meat is fake or unhealthy is simply wrong,” urges the letter. This May, Governor Ron DeSantis made Florida the first US state to impose a ban on cell-cultivated meat, with the signing of Senate Bill 1084, declaring: “We’re fighting back against an ideology that ultimately wants to eliminate meat production in the US and around the globe. In the State of Florida, we’ve put down the marker very clearly: we stand with agriculture.” He added, “Take your fake lab-grown meat elsewhere. We’re not doing that in the state of Florida.” …

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matrix f.t.'s cultivated chicken nuggets on a plate with sauce and two strawberries.

© Matrix F.T.
Cultivated Meat

Ohio Rep. Introduces Bill to Ban Federal Support for Cultivated Meat, Citing Threats to Health and Farmers 

Warren Davidson, a Republican Party member and US representative for Ohio’s 8th congressional district, has recently introduced the REAL Meat Act of 2024 to prohibit using federal funds for any activity related to cultivated meat, including research, production, promotion, and advertisement. Rep. Davidson argues that cultivated meat poses health risks and threatens the livelihood of traditional meat producers. He calls for federal action to ensure taxpayer money isn’t spent on what he terms an “inferior, experimental product.” The legislation would also ban using this cell-based meat in federal nutrition programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Rep. Davidson said, “Fake cell-cultured meat not only poses a health risk to the human body, but it also threatens the livelihoods of America’s hard-working ranchers, livestock farmers, and …

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Alabama has become the second state in the USA to prohibit the sale and production of cultivated meat.

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Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

Alabama Becomes 2nd State to Ban Cultivated Meat, Restricting Sustainable Options for Millions

Following Florida’s recent ban, Alabama has become the second state in the USA to prohibit the sale and production of cultivated meat. This technology grows meat directly from cells without raising and slaughtering animals. Alabama’s Governor Kay Ivey signed the SB23 bill into law on Wednesday, making it enforceable as a class C misdemeanor. Those found guilty can face a maximum jail sentence of three months and a fine of $500. Jack Williams, vice chair of the Senate Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry Committee, sponsored and proposed the bill, carried in the House by State Representative Danny Crawford (R-Athens).  Senator Williams emphasized that Alabamians want transparency in their food, describing lab-grown meat as cells with chemicals that are not proven safe to eat. He added that Alabama aims …

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A cultivated chicken sandwich

© UPSIDE Foods
Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

Florida Senate Bans Sales of Cultivated Meat 

Yesterday, the Florida Senate approved a bill banning the sale of cultivated meat, making Florida the first state in the country to do so. As reported by local media, the Republican-controlled Senate voted 26-10 to pass the bill, which would make changes related to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. All the votes against the bill were from Democrats. R-Tampa representative Jay Collins, the bill’s sponsor, stated that although research over time may prove that cultivated meat is feasible, there is a need for more certainty on its safety. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a strong supporter of the ban, has previously called cultivated meat “fake meat.”  Research on cultivated meat continues to be allowed since NASA and other space researchers are developing the …

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