South Dakota advances bill to outlaw sale of lab-grown meat

South Dakota’s HB 1109 would mirror a new Florida law, prohibiting the manufacture, sale, or distribution of cell-cultured meat. An amendment added to the bill sunsets the rule in 10 years. Arizona, Tennessee and Alabama have all passes measures to ban the sale of cell-cultured meat in their states, according to an NBC story.

The House Agriculture Committee passed the bill in an 8-5 vote with Auch, Goodwin, Hunt, Ismay, Ladner, Nolz, Rice, and Gosch voting “yes” and Peterson (Drew), Vasgaard, Van Diepen, Wittman, and Overweg voting “no.”

Earlier in the session, the South Dakota House Agriculture committee unanimously passed a bill to require labeling of cell-cultured meat and to prohibit the state from funding research, production, promotion, sale, or distribution for the products.

Bill sponsor District 2 Rep. John Sjaarda, Valley Springs, said he spoke with the Florida legislator who sponsored that state’s bill due to concerns about the safety of cell-cultured protein.

Sjaarda, a cattle and hog producer and farmer, said he was a little surprised to learn how little is known about the safety of the product. “Originally I wanted to protect the beef and pork industry,” he said. But explained that after talking to the Florid lawmaker, his focus shifted to protecting consumers.

“Lab grown or cell cultured meat has not undergone long term studies for safety,” he said.

“Labeling doesn’t keep all consumers safe. If you order pepperoni pizza from a restaurant, or buy a can of soup, you don’t get a warning that it has cell-cultured meat,” he said.

Will Coggin, research director for the Center for Environment and Welfare, speaking in favor of the bill, explained that the FDA’s approval for the production of lab-grown chicken was given after reviewing the production company’s own report, not an independent review of the product.

He said that while some lab-grown meat serum ingredients such as sugar, salt and amino acids seem safe, some products are considered a doping agents by the world anti-doping agency, which regulates athletes. “This makes sense if you think about it, doping chemicals help athletes grow or repair muscle faster. These chemicals could also make lab grown meat cells grow faster, cutting costs for an unscrupulous company. Currently there is no required disclosure for what exactly is in a growth serum. It’s considered a trade secret, so consumers are left in the dark, and there is room for unscrupulous actors to take advantage of them,” he said.

“Some companies are using what is known as immortalized cells. Normally, cells can replicate and divided a limited number of times. These cells have been modified to grow in perpetuity, similar to a tumor. Immortalized cells have never before been a food product,”said Coggin.

There are no long-term safety studies of the affects of eating lab grown meat, and consumers in a sense are being used as test subjects, he said.

The South Dakota Stockgrowers Association testified in favor of the bill, saying it’s not fair to allow unsuspecting consumers to buy this product that has yet to be proven safe.

Brett Kenzy, a veteran and the former R-CALF USA president and a rancher and cattle feeder from Gregory testified on his own behalf.

Kenzy said “this is a safety issue.”

Lab-grown meat is not established as a safe product and also due to possible government funding for some of the product development and promotion of the product, he has concerns about it being first fed to children in schools, elderly on government assistance and the military, he said. Kenzy referenced a June TSLN story about the Department of Defense bill that made available up to $500 million in grant funding for the development of lab-grown meat products by manufacturing company BioMADE.

“Lab-grown meat shouldn’t be used in federal programs for people who don’t have a choice,” he said.

Kenzy also told TSLN that he is concerned lab-grown meat will eventually be blended with American born, raised and slaughtered beef. “They could use the wholesome image, the long-term demand, the taste, the texture, flavor and nutrition of our beef and water it down with fake meat,” he said.

The South Dakota Retailers, South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources and South Dakota Farm Bureau and South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association spoke against the bill.

Nathan Sanderson, speaking for the retailers, said to support this bill would equate to the state “putting its finger on the scale.”

He encouraged legislators to “defend freedom” of their consituents.

Matthew Bogue, on behalf of the South Dakota Farm Bureau, said while most of his members “probably won’t purchase” lab-grown meat, they don’t believe the government should be telling people what they can buy or “picking winners and losers.”

South Dakota Cattlemen’s lobbyist Taya Runyan said USDA has granted limited approval for lab-grown meat and that the products are not currently widely available. “These products will be regulated by USDA and FDA, who continue to do research and provide a regulatory framework for this novel technology,” she said.

“While our members don’t find these products appealing or endorse them…we aren’t in favor of banning these products that are safe, legal and find their way to the marketplace,” Runyan said.