Montana Joins States Addressing Cell-Cultured Meats

Montana has joined the growing list of states to pass legislation clarifying the difference between animal meats and cell-cultured meats. The state’s House and Senate have passed legislation dubbed the Real Meat Act, which meat industry publication Meatingplace said will clarify what is hamburger and ground beef and provide a definition for “cell-cultured edible product.”

The legislation said “cell-cultured edible product,” is derived from muscle cells, fat cells, connective tissue, blood and other components produced via cell culture rather than from a whole slaughtered animal. The bill is now headed to the governor’s desk for signature before it becomes law.

The growing list of states seeking to enact similar measures includes Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Washington and Wyoming. Meanwhile, lawmakers in Illinois are considering a bill that identifies what a cell-cultured food product is and says that calling such a product meat or poultry is misbranding.

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