/>i- Last week Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed SB 1084 into law, making it “unlawful for any person to manufacture for sale, sell, hold, or offer for sale, or distribute cultivated meat in this state [Florida].” “Cultivated meat” is defined as “any meat or food product produced from cultured animal cells.” We note that this ban does not extend to plant-based meat imitation products.
- Knowing violation of the law is a second-degree misdemeanor and the law provides for other punishments for businesses, including license suspension. The governor’s webpage indicates that the law represents Florida “fighting back against the global elite’s plan to force the world to eat meat grown in a petri dish or bugs to achieve their authoritarian goal.” The governor’s webpage links to another webpage by the World Economic Forum which touts the potential benefits of insect protein, but the law doesn’t ban insect protein, so it’s not clear why insect protein is mentioned.
- The law is the first of its sort, but Alabama, Arizona, and Tennessee have considered similar laws. Like California’s recent food additive ban (AB-418), the law raises interesting questions about the authority of states to pass such bans, including questions related to preemption and the (dormant) commerce clause.
Florida Bans Cultivated Meat
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
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