Florida’s Republican-controlled Senate has passed a controversial bill that could make the state the first in the nation to bar cell-cultured meat. State Senate lawmakers voted 26-to-10 on Thursday (February 28) on the controversial SB 1084, a wide-reaching legislation that includes a proposal to bar the manufacture, sale and distribution of cultivated meat in the state. According to local media reports, the bill passed despite opposition from Democrats, some of whom argued the ban could negatively impact the emerging cultivated meat sector which has already drawn interest from Israel and China. Some opponents also voiced concern the ban on cultivated meat would prevent tech companies from relocating to Florida. “The cultivated meat industry is in its infancy, but it's clear that it could become an important part of meeting an increasing demand for protein as a worldwide population grows and certainly it is in this state,” state Sen. Tina Polsky (D) told Health News Florida. Cultivated meat makers also tried to stir opposition to the proposal and UPSIDE Foods, a cultivated chicken maker, called on supporters of the sectors to speak up against the ban, which the company warned could set a precedent for other US states considering similar measures. “This isn't just about what's on our plates – it's about the freedom to choose our foods, and the protection of advancements in sustainable food,” the company warned. But state Sen. Jay Collins, a Tampa Republican who is the bill’s lead sponsor and chair of the state Senate Agriculture Committee, raised questions about the safety of what he called lab-grown meat. “We believe that our beef grows from a cow on the ground that eats grass, generates beef when we slaughter it. Same thing with pigs, same thing with chickens,” Collins told Health News Florida. “This (cultivated meat) is a product grown in the lab.” Florida House lawmakers are also preparing to weigh on a companion bill, HB 1074, which advanced through several committees in February and is now slated for a vote by the full chamber. If passed by the House, the proposed legislation will likely be approved by Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has voiced support for the ban. (S&P Global Commodity Insights Food and Agricultural Policy’s Richard Morrison, Joan Murphy, JR Pegg, and Margarita Raycheva)
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