Wyo Lawmakers Fight Fake Meat, Defend Beef

Meat grown in a lab? It's becoming a reality. But is it really meat, and would you eat it?

Should companies that grow meat in a lab be allowed to call it "meat?"

One Wyoming state lawmaker wants to make sure that anything that is called "meat" actually came from a dead animal, not a lab.

Sen. Wyatt Agar is sponsoring a bill that is now in the Agriculture committee aimed at tackling this issue.

But what about veggie burgers? Some of those companies label their products as "meat." Should they be allowed to?

Look for SF68, or Senate File 68. The bill would force producers to “Represent a product as meat in labeling, advertising or other sales promotion unless the product is derived from harvested livestock, poultry or exotic livestock as those terms are defined [currently in state statute]. Meatlike product that is not derived from harvested livestock, poultry or exotic livestock as those terms are defined in [state statute], shall clearly label the product as an ‘imitation food.’”

The bill defines real meat as “the edible part of the muscle of animals, which is skeletal or which is found in the tongue, in the diaphragm, in the heart or in the esophagus, with or without the accompanying or overlying fat, and the portions of bone, skin, sinew, nerve and blood vessels which normally accompany the muscle tissue and which are not separated from it in the process of dressing, but shall not include the muscle found in the lips, snout or ears, nor any edible part of the muscle which has been manufactured, cured, smoked, cooked or processed.”

Wyoming is not the only state considering such a law.