A bill sponsored by Sen. Jason Gallion (R-MD-35) would prevent foods made of plants or cell-cultured meat be labeled “meat” in Maryland.
Senate Bill 188 is backed by 11 other Republican senators. “Laboratory-grown meat will become more prevalent in the future, and this bill will proactively prevent these ‘franken-meat’ alternatives from being labeled as meat,” Gallion said at the bill’s hearing.
If passed, the bill would cost Maryland an estimated $66,500 in the program’s first year to hire one full-time public health worker to develop regulations, do outreach and look into who would be affected, according a state legislative analysis.
Parker Welch of the Maryland Farm Bureau told a local publication the bill would provide customers more transparency.
