The Texas House approved a bill Monday that would prohibit plant-based foods from using “meat” or “beef” on labels because it could be misleading to some consumers.
South Dakota passed a similar bill in 2019 that was an effort to protect the state’s livestock industry and effectively allows the term “meat” to be used only for protein harvested from animal carcasses.
The Texas House Bill 316 would prohibit products derived from insects, plants, or cell structures from using the term “meat,” “poultry product,” “pork,” and “beef” in their labels. If a company uses these labels on anything but the standard designation, it could be accused of misleading consumers.
Some terms would still be allowed on plant-based products, such as the word “burger.”
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The bill will likely be debated once again after it passed to engrossment Monday.
The author of the bill is Republican state Rep. Brad Buckley, who argued the measure is to protect consumers of meat, vegetarians, and vegans from buying something by mistake.
State Rep. Gene Wu, a Democrat from Houston, voiced concern the bill would open Texas to unnecessary litigation from corporate disputes.
The bill could be read as a governmental overreach on private industries, said GOP state Rep. Kyle Biedermann.
“There shouldn’t be a need to have to legislate more regulation of these other companies when it seems their packaging is pretty clear,” Biedermann said.
Supporters of the legislation include the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, Texas Poultry Federation, and Texas Pork Producers Association, Dallas News reported.
Opposition to the measure includes companies such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Burger and organizations such as the Plant Based Foods Association and Alliance for Plant Based Inclusion.
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The state of Mississippi also imposed a similar yet more stringent measure banning certain nomenclature on plant-based food products in 2019 but reversed the language of the bill to allow companies to use terms such as “veggie burgers” or “vegan sausages” on meatless products.
