Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles is applauding the General Assembly for taking action for food that is considered a meat substitute. “Technology exists today to grow meat in a lab,” said Quarles.
Therein lies the rub, according to Quarles. He says the measure, approved by both the House and Senate sets out a labeling standard. “We want to make sure that consumers have transparency. That, when given a choice between meat that was raised in a field from a traditional cow versus meat that was raised in a lab, the labeling needs to be clear. Our legislation simply says, you can call it whatever you want, just don’t call it meat,” says Quarles.
Quarles says lab-grown protein products are not on the market yet, but they are coming.