SSB 3162

GENERAL. This bill prohibits the misbranding of certain food products that are manufactured to resemble meat products that are not derived from the processing (slaughter) of certain domesticated agricultural food animals (animals), including cattle and bison, goats, sheep and lambs, swine, chickens, and turkeys. A manufactured meat product is formulated as a cultivated-meat product, or either an insect-meat product or plant-meat product. In all three cases, the food product has one or more sensory attributes that resemble a type of tissue originating from a species of food animal but that, in lieu of being derived from slaughter, is derived from manufacturing cells grown in vitro, meaning outside the food animal’s body, or is derived from manufacturing parts of insects or plants (new Code chapter 137E). 3). Both government entities are referred to as a regulatory authority. A food processing plant manufactures, packages, labels, or stores food for human consumption but does not provide a food product directly to a consumer. A food establishment stores, prepares, packages, or provides a food product for human consumption.1).1). A regulatory authority licenses and inspects both businesses for health and safety purposes. LABELING REQUIREMENT.4). MISBRANDED FOOD PRODUCTS. The bill provides that a food product is misbranded under two circumstances. In both cases, the food item contains a percentage of a manufactured meat product, excluding insects or plants considered foreign material, and the container’s label does not adequately describe the manufactured meat product.6). The second circumstance of misbranding occurs if the label fails to notify the purchaser that the food product contains a manufactured meat product.7).7). INSPECTIONS AND ENFORCEMENT. The bill provides that a regulatory authority must inspect a food processing plant or grocery store to determine compliance with the bill’s provisions under new Code chapter 137E in the same manner as it inspects those businesses for health and safety purposes under amended Code chapter 137F.7A). CRIMINAL OFFENSE. A person who willfully misbrands a food product in violation of the bill’s provisions commits a simple misdemeanor. A simple misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for no more than days and a fine of at least $105 but not more than $855.