A federal bill that would require plant-based and cell-cultured meat products to be labeled as ‘imitation’ meat has been welcomed by beef producers and slammed by plant-based meat advocates, as the row over terminology in the burgeoning space heats up.
The Real Marketing Edible Artificials Truthfully (MEAT) Act of 2019 (a.k.a. The Real MEAT Act) – introduced to the US House of Representatives by Anthony Brindisi (D-NY) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) – states that ‘any imitation meat food product, beef, or beef product shall be deemed to be misbranded unless its label bears… the word ‘imitation’ immediately before or after the name of the food and a statement that clearly indicates the product is not derived from or does not contain meat.’
The bill also sets out to define ‘beef’ or ‘beef product’ as “any product containing edible meat tissue harvested in whole form from domesticated Bos indicus or Bos taurus cattle,” which would exclude both plant-based and cell-cultured meat. The term ‘meat food product’ is defined as human food derived from the carcass of cattle, sheep, swine, or goats.
Read full, original article: The Real MEAT Act 2019: Plant-based brands should use term ‘imitation’ meat
