Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has signed a bill that makes it unlawful for plant-based proteins or cell-cultured foods to be labeled or marketed as “meat.”
The bill, which originated as HB 1407 and is now Act 501, was introduced by Rep. David Hillman, R-Almyra, who is also a farmer.
In the law’s language, “meat” is defined as “a portion of a livestock, poultry or cervid carcass that is edible by humans.” It further said that a “synthetic product derived from a plant, insect or other source” cannot be defined as meat, nor can a “product grown in a laboratory from animal cells.”
Hillman, who is serving his fourth term in the Arkansas House of Representatives, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: “This law only affects people who want to deceive the public about how their food originated. And if you’re not trying to deceive the public, this will not affect you or any of the outlets who sell these products.”
The bill also makes it illegal to market a product not derived from rice as “rice.”
Violation of Act 501 is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 per offense.
Sen. Bruce Maloch, D-Magnolia, co-sponsored the legislation. Maloch is a past president of the Columbia County Cattlemen’s Association and past chairman of the Arkansas FFA Foundation.
Similar legislation in other states
Arkansas, which is the second-largest broiler producing state in the nation, is not the first state to write such legislation. Missouri was the first, with that initiative being passed into law in 2018.
It was revealed at the 2019 Annual Meat Conference, held earlier in March in Dallas, Texas, that other state legislatures have, at the least, proposed bills aimed at stopping the marketing of non-meat products as meat. Those states include: Washington, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, North Dakota, Nebraska, Mississippi, Tennessee, Indiana and Virginia.
