The [Arkansas] state legislature on March 20 passed a measure banning food companies from marketing “cauliflower rice” as “rice.” The ban also prohibits companies that make cell-cultured and plant-based meats from marketing their products as “meat.” They claimed using such terms could confuse people.
In signing the bill into law, governor Asa Hutchinson made Arkansas the sixth US state to codify such a measure on meat, though it was the only one to include a specific provision on cauliflower rice (Arkansas is the largest US rice-producing state). Missouri was the first to take one up last year.
The passage of these laws has a backstory, which lays bare the underlying—and growing—tension between the people who produce our food and the people who actually buy and eat it.
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Nielsen data show sales of “cauliflower centric” dishes rose 108% in 2017 compared with the prior year. And the trend has continued its upward trajectory.
That kind of data has captured the attention of established food industries, which understandably feel a little miffed that interest in their products might be diverted to others. So they’ve started to push back.
Read full, original article: Arkansas lawmakers have passed a law against cauliflower rice
