By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services
Key Points:
- Arizona lawmaker proposes ban on lab-grown meat sales
- Violators could face 18 months in state prison
- Arizona may impose the country’s first outright ban on lab-grown meat
You can’t yet buy it in stores.
But a Benson lawmaker is moving to make sure that lab-grown meat is never, ever available in Arizona. Not at the grocery stores. And not at restaurants.
The proposal by Republican Rep. Lupe Diaz would make it illegal to sell “cell-cultured protein for human consumption” in the state. And his House Bill 2791 has teeth: Violators could wind up in state prison for 18 months.
If enacted, it would appear to be the first outright ban in the country. By contrast, the other states with similar laws simply deal with misrepresentation, with requirements that the products be clearly labeled as lab-grown meats.
In fact, that is what Rep. Quang Nguyen, R-Prescott Valley, is attempting.
His House Bill 2672 does not prohibit the sale of any product, but it would require that anything containing lab-grown meat have a label stating, “This product is derived from cultivated cells.”
Diaz, however, is defending his approach.
“The way that the meat is made, I just don’t trust it,” he told Capitol Media Services. “It’s accelerated cell growth.”
