WASHINGTON — In response to a letter sent to the White House by national meat lobbying groups requesting USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to assert jurisdiction over laboratory-grown protein, United States Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) President Kenny Graner issued the following statement:
“USCA agrees that progress must continue in addressing the regulatory questions surrounding cell-cultured protein, but today’s comments by the national meat lobbying groups ignore the most pressing elements of this issue.
“USCA has called on Congress and the Administration to engage on this pivotal issue and implement policies that will get out ahead of consumer confusion in the marketplace by enforcing truth in labeling and facilitating inter-agency dialogue. Cell-cultured protein needs to be labeled for what it is – an alternative food product that is NOT beef or meat as consumers currently know it. As new technologies continue to emerge, a one-sized fits all governmental approach will simply not work.
“USCA led on this issue in February 2018 by submitting a petition for rulemaking to USDA FSIS requesting that these products NOT be labeled as beef or meat. USDA needs to continue to engage on this issue by remaining a part of the greater dialogue and issuing a response to that petition.
“As recess approaches and Members of Congress return back to their home states, we ask our members to encourage their representatives to find a labeling solution for cell-cultured protein that is both truthful and transparent. Meat is meat, it isn’t grown in a laboratory.”
–United States Cattlemen’s Association
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