INDIANAPOLIS — As of July 1, entities in the state of Indiana will not be able to sell cultivated meat products for two years.
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun recently signed House Bill 1425, which established a two-year moratorium on the sale of cultivated meat products in the state.
The bill, written by Indiana State Rep. Beau Baird, a Republican from Greencastle, defines cultivated meat products as animal protein grown in a facility that is developed from extracted animal stem cells and arranged in a similar structure as animal tissues “to replicate the sensory and nutritional profiles of meat products.”
What is cultivated meat?
Since the United States first approved the sale of cultivated meat products in June 2023, cultivated meat has been outright banned in states like Alabama, Florida and Mississippi. However, this product is not widely available to purchase in the United States.
When the bill was signed in Mississippi earlier this year, Andy Gipson, the state’s commissioner of agriculture and commerce, said that he believes lab-grown meat presents “a serious concern to consumers and to.. agricultural producers.”
“Mississippi consumers deserve to know the beef, poultry and pork purchased and served to their families is real farm-raised meat, not something cultivated in a petri-dish,” Gipson said in a statement to WJTV, a partner station of FOX59/CBS4 based in Jackson, Mississippi.
However, supporters of the cultivated meat industry told the Associated Press that the products “must meet rigorous government safety tests” before they are on sale.
One trade group, the Association for Meat, Poultry and Seafood Innovation, said they believe that these products “will be a critical and sustainable component… to meeting increased demand for animal protein as the world’s population continues to grow.”
“Bans on cultivated meat limit individuals’ rights to choose what they do or do not wish to eat, and limit citizen opportunities to fully participate in the economy,” the association’s website stated.
How does this passed bill impact Indiana?
Under the new law, Indiana will not allow the sale or the manufacturing of cultivated meat products starting on July 1. However, this moratorium will be in place through June 30, 2027.
Officials are able to impose a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 on violators of this new law. Each day a violation occurs is a separate offense, according to the bill. The bill also allows the state to seek a court order to enjoin the selling or manufacturing of cultivated meat products if “the person repeatedly and persistently fails to comply.”
The bill also states that cultivated meat products in the state should be sold in a manner that clearly indicates that it is a cultivated meat product. The law requires that these products have to include the phrase “THIS IS AN IMITATION MEAT PRODUCT” on the package.
In an interview with FOX59/CBS4, Baird said a pork producer in his district approached him with concerns about cultivated meat products.
“I took a look at it and the more I looked into it, I felt that his rationale was justified and I thought I would take some legislative steps after that,” he said.
Baird said that in the original draft of the legislation, it surrounded the labeling requirements, something that he said would protect the state’s food market, food safety, as well as consumer transparency. The moratorium was not added until the bill went through the legislative process, even though some lawmakers called for banning the product, like other states did.
“On one hand, as a farmer and a rancher, I kind of agree. Let’s just ban it,” Baird said. “There’s no proof that it’s a safe product, yet. But then the other side of me, from a public servant perspective, where I try not to interfere with the free market, that’s what gives me pause. That’s how we landed on creating a two-year moratorium.”
In the two years, Baird said that this will give researchers and universities the chance to look at the product in the state of Indiana and determine its safety. At the end of the two years, the labeling requirements laid out in the bill will go into place.
