Alabama is now the second state in the United States to reject lab grown meat, which is a protein substitute derived from animal cells that is grown in a controlled setting.
The bill, which was signed into law on May 7 by Governor Kay Ivy and was proposed by Senator Jack Williams, vice chair of the Senate Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry Committee, Alabama prohibits the manufacture, sale, or distribution of food products made from cultured animal cells.
A week prior to the enactment of the new legislation, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis became the first state to outlaw the sale of lab-grown livestock.
DeSantis made the announcement at a press conference on May 1, the first day of National Beef Month.
Cell-based proteins do not necessitate the cultivation of crops, land, or water that are required to raise livestock.
Since 2013, cultivated meat and seafood companies, of which there are over a hundred, have received a total of over $3 billion in global funding, which increased to $225.9 million in 2023.
Upside, one of only two cultivated meat companies authorized to sell poultry products in the United States by the USDA, has received funding from food industry titans Tyson Foods and Cargill, in addition to billionaires Richard Branson and Bill Gates.
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