Industry Groups Call for Mandatory Labeling of Cell-Based and Cultured Meat Products

The North American Meat Institute and the Alliance for Meat, Poultry and Seafood Innovation (AMPS Innovation), an industry coalition that represents the makers of cell-based/cultured meat, poultry and seafood have sent a joint letter to the USDA, calling for support of mandatory labeling of cell-based/cultured meat and poultry products and to solicit input on what that labeling should look like through an Advance Notice of Public Rulemaking, a Meat Institute release says.

In March 2019, a joint framework for regulation of cell-based/cultured meat, poultry and seafood products was agreed to by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the USDA, the two agencies will work together to ensure the safety and labeling of cell-based/cultured meat and poultry products, the release continues. FSIS will have oversight of the labeling of cell-based/cultured meat and poultry, as it does for all meat and poultry in the U.S., while the FDA will oversee the labeling of cell-based seafood, as it does for most seafood in the U.S.

The agencies committed to joint principles for product labeling and label claims in a recent public presentation. The Meat Institute and AMPS Innovation letter does not address seafood, but it was shared with the FDA to support continued collaboration between the two agencies’ responsibilities and processes, the release notes. It also says that separately, on October 6, 2020, the FDA issued a request for information regarding the labeling of cell-based/cultured seafood products.

The full letter can be read here.