Law & Policy Active Updated Jul 22, 2026
The cultivated-meat state bans
While the FDA and USDA clear cultivated meat company by company, state legislatures are banning it before it reaches a shelf. As of July 2026, eight states prohibit selling it: Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Montana, Indiana, Nebraska, Texas and South Dakota, with the Indiana and Texas bans written as moratoria that expire in 2027. The first federal court test went the states' way in March 2026, when the Eleventh Circuit upheld Florida's ban; a Texas case now in discovery is the next chance to knock one down.
The story so far
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Jul 22, 2026 Latest
Louisiana enacted four laws, SB152, HB512, HB717 and HB783, banning or requiring 30-point bold-print disclosure labels on cell-cultured meat and precision-fermented dairy; the outright bans take legal effect only if the US Supreme Court upholds cell-cultured meat prohibitions in a still-pending case.
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Mar 24, 2026
The Eleventh Circuit upheld Florida's ban, rejecting UPSIDE's argument that federal poultry law preempts it. '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 wrote. The first state ban tested in federal appeals court survived.
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Mar 12, 2026
South Dakota became the eighth state: SB 124, signed March 12, 2026, temporarily prohibits manufacturing, selling or distributing any product containing cell-cultured protein, in force from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2031. The state had already barred spending state money on cell-cultured protein in 2025.
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Jan 16, 2026
US District Judge Alan Albright refused to dismiss the Texas case and let the companies' dormant Commerce Clause claim proceed to discovery, reasoning that products approved by federal food-safety agencies raise a real question of unconstitutional interference with interstate commerce. He denied the preliminary injunction, so the ban stays in force during the litigation.
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Sep 2, 2025
A day after Texas's SB 261 took effect as the seventh state ban, a two-year prohibition backed by civil and criminal penalties, cultivated-salmon maker Wildtype and UPSIDE Foods sued in federal court in Austin with the Institute for Justice. Both companies' products had cleared federal safety review; their lawyers called the law protection for conventional agriculture, not public health.
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Jul 1, 2025
Mississippi's ban took effect, the third enacted nationally: HB 1006 had become law at the end of March without Governor Tate Reeves's signature after passing the legislature unanimously. Selling a cultivated food product there is a misdemeanor carrying up to $500 and three months in county jail.
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May 20, 2025
Nebraska's LB 246 made it six, prohibiting the manufacture and sale of cultivated meat by classifying it as an adulterated food.
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May 6, 2025
Indiana made it five, as a moratorium rather than a permanent ban: HB 1425 barred the manufacture and sale of cultivated meat from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2027, with fines of up to $10,000, the stiffest penalty of any state ban.
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May 1, 2025
Montana became the fourth state: Governor Greg Gianforte signed HB 401, banning the manufacture, sale and distribution of cell-cultured edible products from October 1, 2025, with penalties of up to a $250 fine and three months in jail, plus license suspensions for restaurants.
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Aug 13, 2024
UPSIDE Foods, whose cultivated chicken had cleared federal safety review, sued Florida with the Institute for Justice, arguing the ban is economic protectionism that violates the Commerce Clause. 'This law is not about safety; it's about stifling innovation and protecting entrenched interests at the expense of consumer choice,' said IJ senior attorney Paul Sherman.
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May 7, 2024
Alabama followed within a week: Governor Kay Ivey signed SB 23, making it unlawful to manufacture, sell or distribute any food product made from cultured animal cells, effective October 1, 2024, with violations a Class C misdemeanor. State research and development was allowed to continue.
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May 1, 2024
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed SB 1084, the first state ban on selling or manufacturing cultivated meat, with violations a second-degree misdemeanor from July 1, 2024. 'Take your fake, lab-grown meat elsewhere. We're not doing that in the state of Florida,' DeSantis said. Research stayed legal, a carve-out for the space industry's interest in the technology.
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