South Carolina law prohibits misleading meat labels

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 South Carolina has signed a bill into place that will prohibit labeling lab grown protein as meat.

Labels are critical in consumer buying decisions. (Wavebreak Media Ltd, BigStock.com)
Labels are critical in consumer buying decisions. (Wavebreak Media Ltd, BigStock.com)

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 South Carolina has signed a bill into place that will prohibit labeling lab-grown protein as meat.

The bill states, “A person who advertises, offers for sale, or sells all or part of a carcass shall not engage in any misleading or deceptive practices, labeling, or misrepresenting a product as 'meat' or 'clean meat' that is cell-cultured meat/protein, or is not derived from harvested production livestock, poultry, fish, or crustaceans.”

Those who break the law and are convicted must be "imprisoned not more than one year, or fined not more than one thousand dollars, or both.” Under the law, a violation would be classified as a misdemeanor.

The bill passed both the state's House and Senate unanimously. Republican Rep. Randy Ligon led the campaign and explained he didn’t want consumers to confuse lab grown protein with actual meat.

“The lawmaker and member of the South Carolina Cattlemen’s Association told The Post and Courier of Charleston he doesn’t want to stop research into the alternative food, but he does want to make sure consumers understand what they are getting,” Pork Business reported.

Similar laws in other states

In May, the State of Oklahoma signed a bill into place, “prohibiting persons advertising or selling food plans or carcasses from engaging in certain misleading or deceptive practices,” the states bill says.

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.”

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 in a previous report 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.”

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