A measure banning the sale of cell-cultured “meats” was passed by Texas lawmakers during the 89th legislative session and has been approved by Gov. Greg Abbott, making Texas the seventh state to institute such a ban.
Senate Bill 261, authored by State Sen. Charles Perry (R–Lubbock), bans the sale of cell-cultured meat products, and violators face civil and criminal penalties.
According to the text, “cell-cultured” is defined as “a food product derived from harvesting animal cells and artificially replicating those cells in a growth medium to produce tissue.”
The new law will take effect on September 1, and the ban will expire after two years. If the sale of cell-cultured meat is allowed after that, it must be clearly labeled with the terms “lab-grown,” “cell-cultured,” or something similar.
“This ban is a massive win for Texas ranchers, producers, and consumers,” said Texas Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller.
“Texans have a God-given right to know what’s on their plate, and for millions of Texans, it better come from a pasture, not a lab. It’s plain cowboy logic that we must safeguard our real, authentic meat industry from synthetic alternatives.”
In recent years, there has been a push for the production and research of “sustainable” lab-grown and plant-based protein by liberal billionaires, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Gates has called alternative proteins the future and something every wealthy country should adopt for the sake of climate change. His company, Upside Foods, became the first lab-grown chicken producer to be certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2023.
“Texans feed the world with real food from real animals raised by real people,” said Miller. “Not only that, but Texas raises the best beef and poultry products in the world. Lab-grown meat just doesn’t belong in Texas, and now, it doesn’t have a place on our tables.”
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