TALLAHASSEE – Florida’s ban on cultivated meat will remain in effect after a federal appeals court upheld the law in a ruling released Monday.
Upside Foods, a California-based company that grows and sells cultivated chicken, brought the suit after the law (SB 1084) prohibiting the manufacture, sale and distribution of lab-grown meat took effect in July 2024.
Recommended Videos
A three-judge panel on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals found Florida’s ban on lab-grown meat doesn’t conflict with existing federal laws regulating poultry that is raised for human consumption.
“Because Florida’s ban on lab-grown meat does not regulate Upside’s ingredients, premises, facilities, or operations, federal law does not preempt SB 1084,” Judge Andrew Brasher, an appointee of President Donald Trump, wrote.
U.S. District Judge Mark Walker of the Norther District of Florida, an appointee of President Barack Obama, had previously dismissed the case and Monday’s ruling upheld that decision.
Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, who owns a farm in Trilby, pushed for the legislation, arguing it was necessary to protect farmers producing real meat from an influx of manufactured meat.
“Another win for Real Food — another loss for Frankenmeat,” Simpson said in a released statement. “Today’s ruling to uphold Florida’s ban on lab-grown ‘meat’ is a huge win for the state and for our consumers. Lab-grown ‘meat’ is not proven to be safe enough for consumers, and it is being pushed by a liberal agenda to shut down farms.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed the bill into law, has defended the measure as a shield against efforts to force fake food onto Floridians’ plates.
“Today, Florida is fighting back against the global elite’s plan to force the world to eat meat grown in a petri dish or bugs to achieve their authoritarian goals,” DeSantis said May 1, 2024 when he signed the bill. “Our administration will continue to focus on investing in our local farmers and ranchers, and we will save our beef.”
At the time, Florida was the first state in the country to ban cultivated meat. Since then six other states have followed suit: Alabama, Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska and Texas.
DeSantis also applauded the ruling.
“Under Governor DeSantis, we will never have lab-grown meat in Florida,” DeSantis spokeswoman Molly Best wrote in an email.
The bans were put in place just as the cultivated meat industry was beginning to get off the ground. The Food and Drug Administration only approved the sale of lab-grown meat for human consumption in November 2022.
Upside Foods was the company that pushed the FDA to clear their products, which use animal cells grown in a lab that are similar to natural meat.
Advocates for lab-grown meat argue the state bans suppress a burgeoning industry, potentially costing jobs and stamping out free-market competition before the new products can gain a hold in the marketplace.
It’s unclear if Upside Foods will appeal the ruling, the company didn’t return an email seeking comment Monday.