Bill keys on labels for new proteins

Legislator insists: Don’t call it meat

A bill that defines what can be labeled and marketed as beef, pork, poultry and rice in Arkansas was introduced last week by Rep. David Hillman, R-Almyra, and Sen. Bruce Maloch, DMagnolia.

The purpose of HB1407 is to protect consumers from false or misleading labels on agricultural products, the bill said.

Efforts by lawmakers to ensure livestock and poultry products are labeled properly come as startup companies and food conglomerates develop and send to market more plantbased products that are designed to resemble burgers or chicken.

Hillman said the issue is not the products themselves, but rather how they are being marketed by companies.

“Don’t try to convince people that it’s something it’s not,” Hillman said. “Don’t call it beef, don’t call it meat.”

The bill also addresses products grown from animal cells in labs, which have yet to hit market shelves. The Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture agreed last fall to share regulatory oversight of products grown from animal

cells, but are not raised and slaughtered like livestock and poultry.

Lawmakers in Wyoming, Indiana, Nebraska, Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri and Mississippi either have or are considering similar legislation. Missouri was the first to do so, but was met with a lawsuit that alleged officials would be violating freespeech rights by enforcing the law. Missouri reached a settlement in the lawsuit this week.

The bill defines a raft of agriculture products — beef, chicken, pork, livestock, meat and poultry. It also includes a definition of rice, prompted by a product that Hillman said is “made out of cauliflower, but is labeled as rice.”

If the bill is passed, the Arkansas Bureau of Standards will provide regulation and oversight of agricultural labeling in the state. Any person or entity who misbrands or misidentifies an agricultural product as defined in the bill is subject to a fine no greater than $1,000 for each violation.

Even though the intent behind the bill is to maintain product integrity of meat and rice products, Travis Justice, chief economist of the Arkansas Farm Bureau, said the bill is likely to “create some angst among product distributors.”

“That’s the basis of the lawsuit in Missouri,” he said. “[Companies] argue [states] will have to incur some costs to segregate some of the labeling.”

While some argue the state-specific labeling bills protect their farm interests, others claim they violate First Amendment rights. The Good Food Institute, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit group in support of alternative proteins, sent a letter to the House that opposed Hillman’s bill.

“Because plant-based meat labels clearly communicate that they are not animal meat, and federal law requires ingredients disclosure, states do not have a compelling interest to censor those labels,” the group said in the letter sent Wednesday. “Likewise, cellbased meat producers will have every incentive to tell consumers what their products are to distinguish them because they will likely be more expensive than conventional meat.”

The alternative protein market is miniscule compared with the market for meat and poultry products, but companies have shown interest in the space because of its growth potential.

“Tyson’s is working on something like this,” Hillman said. After about six months of working on the bill, Hillman said Tyson officials have seen a copy of it.

“They don’t have a problem with it,” he said when asked about the company’s position. Maloch did not respond to a message left Wednesday.

In response to shifting demand toward a more meatless diet, meatpackers Tyson and Cargill Inc. have both invested in young companies that make alternative protein products marketed as plantbased meat or cell-based meat the past few years. Tyson is expected to announce its plans for the alternative protein market in the coming weeks.

“It’s an area that we are investing in sizably and we will be in-market this calendar year,” said Noel White, Tyson’s president and chief executive officer, after the company’s shareholder meeting last week.