False or persuasive marketing claims have been making their way into the meat industry, confusing consumers and creating a demand for specialty products. In response, the State of Oklahoma has signed a bill into place, “prohibiting persons advertising or selling food plans or carcasses from engaging in certain misleading or deceptive practices,” the bill says.
Dovers reported that, “in essence (the bill) prevents cell-cultured or plant-based products from using meat terms.”
The bill outlines meat as, “Meat means any edible portion of livestock, poultry or captive cervid carcass or part thereof.” Misrepresent is defined as, “the use of any untrue, misleading or deceptive oral or written statement, advertisement, label, display, picture, illustration or sample.”
The bill (SB 392) was written by Sen. Michael Bergstrom and was moved through the house by Rep. Toni Hasenbeck, who is a member of the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association. The bill passed the state House unanimously at 93-0 and the senate 47-1 before Gov. Kevin Stitt signed it into place.
“The Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association (OCA) was glad to see the bill move forward as it was a legislative priority for the organization. OCA Executive Vice President Michael Kelsey says the bill will help protect the integrity of meat products,” the Dovers report said.
Kelsey explained in the report that this bill will help to insure the product beef producers work hard to generate. “New technologies that utilize cell culturing to produce meat products in a laboratory would like to take advantage of wholesome terms like 'beef' for their products. SB 392 would ensure that packaging of lab cultured, and plant substitute products may not pirate the term ‘beef’,” she told Dovers.
Similar laws in other states
In March, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson 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.
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.”
Violation of Act 501 is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 per offense.
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.
Katie Olthoff, director of communications with the Iowa Cattlemen's Association said that, “We've been really active at the national level on fake meat labeling, and explored legislation in Iowa, but discovered that Iowa's code already clearly defines meat.”
