A federal appeals court ruled that Florida, the first state to ban lab-grown meat, can continue to enforce state law SB 1084, keeping the state’s restrictions fully in place.
The March 23 ruling from a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the ban does not conflict with federal regulations.
Upside Foods, a California company that was approved to make cultivated chicken for U.S. sale in 2022, brought the case forward. The company argued that federal oversight should override Florida’s restrictions, but the court disagreed.
“Because Florida’s ban on lab-grown meat does not regulate Upside’s ingredients, premises, facilities, or operations, federal law does not preempt SB 1084,” wrote Circuit Judge Andrew Brasher, as reported by the Florida Phoenix.
SB 1084, which took effect in July 2024, bans the manufacture, sale and distribution of cultivated meat. Six other states — Alabama, Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska and Texas — have enacted similar bans since Florida took action.
Florida leaders who backed the ban celebrated the ruling. CBS 12 reports that Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson said it protects traditional farmers and argued that lab-grown meat isn’t proven safe. Gov. Ron DeSantis also praised the decision, saying lab-grown meat won’t be allowed in Florida.
Cultivated meat supporters say these bans block a growing industry, eliminate future jobs, and shut down marketplace competition before the products can gain a foothold, CBS 12 reports.
Signed by DeSantis in 2024 to support traditional agriculture, the state law makes violations punishable by up to 60 days in jail.
“Take your fake lab-grown meat elsewhere,” DeSantis said in Food Safety News in 2024. “We are not doing that in the State of Florida.”
