The state of Oklahoma has passed a law prohibiting the misbranding of food, distribution of or offering for sale, and the selling of any falsely advertised or misbranded food.
House Bill 1126, requires food manufacturers, distributers and retailers to clearly disclose that cell-cultivated or cultured products or those that come from a lab, plants or insect proteins are not meat. Those convicted of false advertising could face a misdemeanor.
Oklahoma Rep. Jim Grego says, “This is an effort to help protect beef producers, such as myself, against the flood of products claiming to be meat. Many of these products are derived from plants, insects or even originate in a Petri dish. I believe if you as a consumer wish to consume these products there should be no doubt as to how they were produced. This bill really is a truth in labeling bill.”
Grego shares his thanks to Oklahoma Sen. Roland Pederson who was the Senate author of the bill.
“This law is about truth in labeling, transparency and ensuring that consumers are not misled by deceptive advertising,” Pederson explains. “I extend my appreciation to Governor Stitt for signing House Bill 1126 into law to protect consumers and support our state’s meat producers.”
Under the provisions of the bill, the burden of proof would be on the manufacturer and not the retailer, Grego said. The Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry would be responsible for investigating all credible complaints that food products are falsely advertised or misbranded as meat products.
Other States Tackling Cell-Cultured Meat
Several other states have taken action regarding cell-cultured meat.
During their 2024 legislative sessions, nine states — Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas — considered legislation banning the manufacture, sale or distribution of cell-cultured meat. Florida and Alabama both passed the legislation, and their governors signed it into law.
Colorado’s governor signed a similar bill on April 17 that prohibits the misbranding of cell-cultivated meat as a meat product and requires cell-cultivated meat to be clearly labeled as cell-cultivated meat.
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