Who’s afraid of lab-grown meat?

FILE — Meat inside of a cooler at a grocery store in Cleveland, Miss. on Jan. 15, 2024. Mississippi became the third state to ban cell-derived meat, a product not for sale in the United States. (Rory Doyle/The New York Times)

WOULD you try a chicken sandwich made from lab-grown meat?

If so, don’t expect to find one in Mississippi anytime soon, because the southern US state has moved to ban so-called cultivated or cell-derived meat, joining a growing list of states seeking to outlaw the emerging food technology.

Mississippi’s proposed ban would impose fines of US$500 (RM2,220) and up to three months in jail for anyone produ­cing or selling such products within the state.

This follows similar moves in Florida and Alabama, which last year became the first US states to outlaw the cultivation and sale of meat grown in laboratories.

Several others, including Nebraska and Georgia, are considering comparable measures.

The bans are largely symbolic, as cultivated meat is not yet available to consumers in the US.

However, they reflect broader cultural and political battles, with opponents citing everything from economic concerns to conspiracy-fuelled fears.

Unlike plant-based alternatives such as the Impossible Burger, which mimic meat using entirely plant-derived ingredients, cultivated meat is created using animal cells.

Scientists extract a small sample from a live animal and nourish it with a blend of nutrients, enabling the cells to multiply and form muscle, fat and connective tissue – the core components of meat.

Advocates say this method could significantly reduce the environmental impact of livestock farming and provide consumers with real meat without the need to slaughter animals.

Lab-grown meat is prepared at an event held by Upside Foods in Miami, in June, last year. — Josh Ritchie/The New York Times

They argue it could cut greenhouse gas emissions, land use, and antibiotic reliance in industrial farming.

While the industry is still in its infancy, supporters of cultivated meat argue that the bans violate constitutional rights.

Some legal challenges are already under way, with trade groups contending that these laws will not hold up in court.

“It’s a whole lot of political theatre,” said Suzannah Gerber, executive director of the Association for Meat, Poultry and Seafood Innovation.

She believes the bans are more about making a statement than enacting enforceable policy. Although opposition to lab-grown meat has been strongest in Republican-led states, the issue does not fall neatly along party lines.

Trade organisations such as the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Meat Institute have opposed restrictive measures, arguing that they contradict free-market principles.

Even within conservative states, lawmakers have pushed back against bans.

In Wyoming and South Dakota, Republican legislators blocked similar proposals, citing concerns about government overreach.

“If we let the government decide what foods we eat and what medicines we take, our bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as the souls who live under tyranny,” said Bob Ide, a Wyoming state senator, paraphrasing Thomas Jefferson while rejecting a ban in his state.

Despite headlines and billions in investment, lab-grown meat is far from mainstream. Only two companies – Upside Foods and Good Meat – currently hold US approval to sell cultured meat, and they have only distributed limited quantities to select restaurants. No cultivated meat has been commercially sold in the states that have enacted bans.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a third company, Mission Barns, to produce lab-grown pork fat.

Cultivated meat products also require oversight from the Department of Agriculture, adding another layer of regulatory complexity.

Some opponents have spread misinformation about the health risks of lab-grown meat, while others have framed it as a threat to traditional livestock farming.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has positioned his state’s ban as a defence of local ranchers, while also using it as a rallying cry against what he calls “global elites”.

“Today, Florida is fighting back against the global elite’s plan to force the world to eat meat grown in a petri dish or bugs to achieve their authoritarian goals,” DeSantis told a press conference in May.

For some conservative politicians, cultivated meat has become another front in the culture wars.

Its supporters often tout it as a cruelty-free alternative that could mitigate climate change, a stance that some right-wing figures see as an attack on traditional farming values.

“There’s no way we can sustain food production with livestock the way we do today,” said David Kaplan, a cellular agriculture expert at Tufts University. “We need alternative options.”

Critics of industrial meat production argue that raising billions of cows, pigs and chickens places enormous strain on land and water resources while contributing significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions.

Intensive livestock farming also relies heavily on antibiotics to prevent disease outbreaks in crowded conditions, raising concerns about antimicrobial resistance.

While the concept of cultivated meat is promising, scaling it for mass production presents significant challenges. The process requires large bioreactors to grow animal cells in a controlled environment, and some methods are highly energy- intensive.

Additionally, while ground meat substitutes like lab-grown chicken nuggets are relatively easy to produce, replicating complex cuts like steaks or pork chops is far more difficult.

Cost is another major barrier. Current production methods are expensive, making cultivated meat unaffordable for the average consumer.

Industry experts say the technology needs to become vastly more efficient before it can compete with conventionally farmed meat.

With industry growth still slow, cultivated meat companies are focusing on fighting state restrictions.

Upside Foods has filed a federal lawsuit challenging Florida’s ban, arguing it violates the US Constitution’s commerce clause, which prevents states from interfering with interstate trade.

“These laws are pretty flagrantly in violation of both the commerce clause and federal pre-emption,” said Madeline Cohen, associate director of regulatory affairs at the Good Food Institute, which is assisting in the lawsuit.

Legal experts say federal law supersedes state regulations when conflicts arise, meaning these bans could ultimately be struck down in court.

For now, however, lab-grown meat remains a political and legal battleground, with its future in the US still uncertain. — ©2025 The New York Times Company

This article originally appeared in The New York Times