Montana Bill Would Distinguish ‘Real’ From Lab-Grown Meat

A state lawmaker wants to make sure meat products produced from a cultured cell can't be labeled the same as steaks, burger and other items that come from livestock and poultry.

Several national companies are producing lab-grown meat, which is made from the cultured stem cells of animals. Industry backers, including meat giants such as Tyson and Cargill, as well as Bill Gates and Richard Branson, say the process is an ethical way to produce meat that also has fewer environmental effects than traditional meat production.

Rep. Alan Redfield, a Republican from Livingston, said he wants to make sure Montana consumers know what they're buying and where it came from. His Real Meat Act doesn't ban the sale of cell-cultured products, but does require that anything labeled "meat" must be "derived from the edible flesh of livestock or a livestock product."

The bill does not focus on vegetarian meat alternatives, things like Gardenburger veggie burgers or Beyond Meat plant-based meat substitutes, Redfield said.

Several other states, including Wyoming, Missouri, Indiana, Nebraska, Virginia and Tennessee, have or are trying to pass bills similar to Redfield's. Missouri was first to do so, and is now facing a lawsuit claiming its law is unconstitutional because it violates First Amendment rights to free speech.

Several people spoke in support of Redfield's bill, including people from the farming and ranching community.