Texas has officially banned the sale of lab-grown meat, becoming the seventh state to take such action.

In June, Texas lawmakers passed legislation to ban the sale of cultivated meat within the state for the next two years.

It goes into effect on September 1st.

The Texas Tribune has more:

Lawmakers approved the ban because of concerns that the cultured meat industry could disrupt traditional livestock markets and family farms, as well as concerns about product labelling.

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“It’s a preemptive position for us,” said Carl Ray Polk, Jr. a fifth-generation rancher in East Texas and president of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Ranchers Association who testified in support of the bill in a March Senate committee hearing. “We want to put this in a moratorium, at least a two-year ban, until everything checks and the balances are there for them to take the product to retail.”

Scientists and experts in cellular agriculture say the ban appears to be a political move that will have little to no impact on the market, since cell-cultivated meat, which is derived from animal cells and grown in bioreactors, isn’t being sold on a large scale yet.

“It seems more like a statement than anything that’s going to have lasting impact,” said Dr. Kate Krueger, a cell biologist who previously worked as a scientist at Perfect Day Foods and now does technical evaluations for biotech companies focused on cell-based meat.

Other states to ban lab-grown meat include Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Alabama, and Florida.

The Texas law establishes civil and criminal penalties for selling the product.

Stateline noted:

Texas followed Indiana’s lead in making its ban last for two years, which Indiana legislators said would allow more time for research. The time limit also may mean the law is less likely to draw legal challenges.

Upside Foods, one of the companies federally approved to sell cultivated meat, sued Florida shortly after the state passed the country’s first lab-grown meat ban. That lawsuit is pending.

In 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture gave permission to two California-based companies to begin selling lab-produced chicken across the country. Their lab-grown chicken was briefly featured on the menu at two restaurants that same year.

Although cultivated meat isn’t sold in stores yet, some research suggests it could be better for the environment compared with traditional meat production.

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But other research suggests lab-grown meat’s environmental impact could be higher than retail beef based on current production methods.

 

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