Texas Sued over Its Lab-Grown Meat Ban
Texas joins six other states in banning lab-grown meat sales to address safety concerns and protect its cattle industry, despite federal safety approvals and ongoing legal challenges.
- On June 20, 2025, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 261 into law banning the sale of lab-grown meat from Sept. 1, 2025, for two years.
- The law aims to protect Texas’ traditional agriculture by prohibiting cell-cultured protein sales, despite federal agencies approving these products as safe.
- Two California companies, Wildtype and Upside Foods, which produce federally approved cultured salmon and chicken, sued Texas on Sept. 2, 2025, for violating the Commerce and Supremacy Clauses.
- The lawsuit highlights that Texas law conflicts with federal poultry regulations and imposes daily fines up to $25,000 and possible jail time for violations.
- This legal challenge signals ongoing disputes over state protectionism against emerging food technologies, with implications for interstate commerce and consumer choice.
18 Articles
18 Articles


Texas’ ban on lab-grown meat? California companies have beef with it, suing to reverse law
The ban on the production and sale of lab-grown meat in Texas went into effect on Sept. 1. Two California companies are looking to challenge that.
Texas Officially Bans Production, Possession, Sale of Lab-Grown ‘Meat’
Texas has officially outlawed the sale and production of lab-grown meat this week, becoming the latest state to push back against “cell-cultured protein” in defense of the cattle industry.
Texas banned cultivated meat. Now cultivated meat companies are suing
Cultivated meat—meat grown from cells, not from whole animals—isn’t yet a widespread option in grocery stores or restaurants. The innovation, which involves growing meat from real animal cells without raising or slaughtering any animals, is still relatively rare. But already, Texas lawmakers have decided to ban it. Now, two cultivated meat companies are fighting back with a federal lawsuit that challenges the ban. The Institute for Justice, a n…
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