Nebraska becomes 6th state to ban lab-grown meat

Today, Nebraska’s Gov. Jim Pillen signed LB246, banning the production, sale, promotion and distribution of “fake meat” in Nebraska. The bill was sponsored on the governor’s behalf by state Sen. Barry DeKay.

The legislation comes on the heels of Montana and Indiana enacting their own bans in recent weeks, joining Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi.

“When I stood in front of a group of producers and ag business owners yesterday and announced my intention to sign this legislation, I was met with applause,” Pillen said. “We need to be willing to protect and preserve our state’s vital ag industry as well as our consumers. These products are grown from harvested cells in bioreactor machines. The health consequences are unknown and so are the long-term effects to consumers.”

Putting this ban into law builds on the governor’s effort to protect producers and consumers from the fake meat industry, which was initiated with the issuance of Executive Order 24-09, prohibiting state agencies from purchasing lab-grown meat and requiring state contractors to certify that they will not discriminate against natural-meat producers in favor of laboratory or cultivated-meat producers.

Jack Hubbard, executive director of the Center for the Environment and Welfare and a critic of lab-grown (aka “fake”) meat, emphasized the importance of the law, citing research from the University of California, Davis that shows lab-grown meat could have 25 times the environmental impact of farm-raised meat. 

Nebraska Agriculture Director Sherry Vinton announced her department will introduce new labeling regulations aimed at protecting consumers from misleading information. The forthcoming rules will require lab-grown or manufactured protein products to be clearly distinguished from traditional meat with prominent, conspicuous labeling.

“These steps are simply to protect consumers from being misled,” Vinton told the Nebraska Examiner. She added that the regulations will also establish standards to determine when lab-grown or cell-cultured products are being falsely advertised or misbranded.

At a May 13 news conference, Pillen made his stance clear. “The fake-meat, petri-dish-meat folks — they’re not going to have a place in Nebraska. Just mark that down on your calendar,” he said. “It’s time for us to roll up our sleeves, fight, and defend Nebraska.”

Pillen, whose family owns a major hog operation in the state, said he will push for legislation to outlaw the sale of lab-grown meat in Nebraska. “We can etch it in stone so nobody has a chance,” he said. “If there are Nebraskans that want to buy lab-grown meat, good for them — they’re just not going to do it in Nebraska.”