“`html
Texas Bans Lab-Grown Meat Amid industry Growth
Table of Contents
The ban, effective until 2027, adds hurdles for cultivated meat companies despite potential environmental benefits.
Texas has become the latest to ban lab-grown meat, joining six other US states and Italy. This action introduces further obstacles for a nascent industry already navigating critically important hurdles to reach consumers.
Alternative meat products, including those grown in a lab, present a potential solution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, a sector where livestock alone contributes between 10% and 20% of climate pollution.
The industry remains in its early stages. In the US, onyl a few companies are authorized to sell cultivated chicken, pork fat, and salmon. Australia, Singapore, and Israel also permit sales by select companies within their borders.
Upside Foods, a producer of cultivated chicken, received the legal green light to sell its products in the US in 2022. Wildtype Foods, a more recent entrant to the US market, began selling its cultivated salmon in June.
Upside, Wildtype, and other cultivated-meat companies are focused on scaling up production. Currently, their products are primarily available at pop-up events or featured on special menus in upscale restaurants.
Texas restricts Cultivated Meat Availability
The as-yet-limited reach of lab-grown meat didn’t stop state officials from moving to ban the technology, effective from now until September 2027.
Until recently, the only place to find lab-grown meat in Texas was at Otoko, a sushi restaurant in Austin.Otoko included Wildtype’s cultivated salmon on a special tasting menu starting in July. the chef told local publication Culture Map Austin that the cultivated fish tastes like wild salmon and was paired with grilled yellowtail to highlight the similarities and differences between the two types of fish.
Despite the limited availability of lab-grown meat, state officials moved to ban the technology, effective from now until September 2027.
The office of state senator Charles Perry, the author of the bill, did not respond to requests for comment. The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, whose president, Carl Ray Polk Jr., testified in support of the bill in a March committee hearing, also did not respond.
