The United States Cattlemen's Association (USCA) has petitioned the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to exclude products not derived directly from animals raised and slaughtered, from the definition of 'beef' and 'meat'.

In its petition to FSIS, the USCA said it had long advocated for additional beef labelling requirements to better inform consumers ​and pointed out that there are currently no labelling requirements applicable to products labelled as ‘beef’ or more broadly as ‘meat’ mandated by law.​

“USCA has learned that some major US meatpackers and companies in other countries are investing heavily in creating alternative products that may resemble and taste like beef products, including synthetic beef and beef grown in laboratories using animal cells, known as in vitro meat, bio meat, clean meat or cultured meat. Such products, which are not derived from animals born, raised, and harvested in the traditional manner, should not be permitted to be marketed as beef, or more broadly as meat products,” the statement reads.

It argued that current labelling practices may cause consumer confusion in the marketplace.

Global Meat News

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