Late last year, we blogged about the fact that Missouri passed a law prohibiting marketers from promoting non-meat products as meat. Now, Nebraska is considering a similar measure.
A bill was recently introduced by Nebraska State Senator Carol Blood which would prohibit marketers from "misrepresenting a product as meat that is not derived from livestock or poultry." The bill also states that "meat" does not include "lab-grown or insect or plant-based food products." If the bill passes as written, violations of the law would be considered a misdemeanor.
According to the Nebraska Beef Council, agriculture is the largest industry in Nebraska, and the largest segment of that industry is cattle production.
For marketers of soy-based and other plant-based meat substitutes, this is an important issue to keep an eye on, since bills like this could have significant impact on how these products are named and marketed.
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