Lab-grown meat hasn’t made its way into Kentucky markets yet, but two Kentucky Republicans want to ban its manufacture and sale in the state before that can happen. Saying he was presenting the bill to support Kentucky agriculture and livestock producers, Rep. Ryan Dotson of Winchester said people don’t know the “ramifications” of cultured meat.
“We don't know what that is, but we have time tested thousands and thousands of years of time-tested cattle eating grass in the sunlight,” Dotson said. “That is good and healthy for all of Kentuckians.”
Lab-grown meat is a relatively new frontier in food technology. At least five companies have gained approval from federal regulators for food grown from chicken cells, pork fat cells and salmon cells, according to federal food safety agencies. The meat is grown in labs using starter cells and a growth medium inside a bioreactor — and it’s not like a plant-based meat that is made from plant materials, not live animal cells.
Soon after federal agencies approved cultured meat for human consumption, several states began banning their production and sale. At least seven states have already banned products. Companies launched lawsuits against them in Florida and Texas, which issued a temporary two-year ban that started in September last year.
While House Bill 309 passed a committee vote Wednesday, it did not do so on purely party lines. Rep. Kim Holloway, a liberty-wing Republican from Mayfield, said she could not vote for the bill because it is not the government’s role to choose winner and losers.
“We have things in Kentucky that are not banned, that are also dangerous. And I think it's important to let the free market decide whenever something is a reasonable product,” Holloway said.
One Democrat mentioned the cigar bar bill that passed a full House vote the day before, which required localities to allow cigar bars to operate, regardless of smoke-free ordinances. As Rep. Adam Moore of Lexington noted, cigars are a proven carcinogen, while lab-grown meat has no currently known health concern.
“We know that causes cancer and it ends lives and it shortens lifespans in Kentucky,” Moore said. “Why would we not consider moving to a labeling approach then, instead of this, saying that we do not know?”
Moore said he believes the bill goes against free market principles. While he said he has no desire to eat lab-grown meat, he doesn’t see why his neighbor shouldn’t be allowed to.
Kentucky has laws on the books that ban “misleading” labelling, specifically requiring that products containing “cultured animal tissue” not represent itself as meat or a meat product. That passed both chambers with little opposition in 2019. Dotson’s bill would repeal that section of statute in favor of an outright ban.
“Our future fiduciary duty is to protect Kentuckians and to make sure that the industries that we have here are protected as. Well, as much as we possibly can. There's 48,000 Kentucky farmers that produce animal-based protein,” Dotson said.
A couple other Republicans voted yes, but said they had concerns with a total ban, including Rep. Matthew Koch of Paris, who said he farms cattle. He compared the debate to the arguments over dairy milk versus milk alternatives.
“I'm not sure that a total ban is the right thing to do on this, but I am going to vote yes today and continue this conversation,” Koch said.
The bill now goes to the full state House for consideration.
