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Nebraska bill would ban ‘meat’ labels on lab-grown, insect and plant ‘products’

January 25, 2019 from Food Safety News:

"The mystery Nebraska State Sen. Carol Blood created briefly Tuesday by withdrawing her bill to limit the use of the term “meat” on product labels in the state was short-lived."
"On Wednesday she introduced an alternative to her original measure. The new proposal, Legislative Bill (LB) 594, seeks to amend Nebraska’s Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act. It replaced Blood’s withdrawn LB 14."
"Pyramid schemes and chain referral sales are among illegal activities covered by the state’s existing Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Reporting and enforcement is carried out by county attorneys and the Nebraska Attorney General. The proposed change would add language covering meat labeling."
"Meat means any edible portion of any livestock or poultry carcass or part thereof and does not include insect-based, plant-based or lab-grown food products,” according to Blood’s amending language."
"'For purposes of this subdivision, (a) livestock includes cattle, calves, sheep, swine, ratite birds, including, but not limited to, ostrich and emu, llamas, alpaca, bison, elk, goats, horses, and rabbits raised in confinement for human consumption and (b) poultry includes any domesticated bird, including, but not limited to, chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese raised in confinement for human consumption. . .'"
"Farmers and some legislators in Missouri and Nebraska, and possibly other meat producing states, say they want to protect the traditional animal agriculture industry at a time when promising protein alternatives are writing their marketing plans."

Sponsor withdraws Nebraska meat labeling bill without explanation

January 24, 2018 from the FoodSafetyNews:

"The Nebraska Unicameral bill for truth in advertising and labeling in the sale of meat and providing a penalty for non-compliance was looking pretty popular."
"Since Sen. Carol Blood, D-Bellevue, introduced it, Legislative Bill (LB) 14 had picked up five co-sponsors in the nation’s only nonpartisan legislative body. Blood, a business consultant elected in 2016, pulled a surprise move of her own on Tuesday when the Unicameral went back into session after the Marlin Luther King holiday."
"Blood introduced a motion to withdraw LB 14, a move not explained in the Unicameral’s journal or anyplace else. Blood did not issue a press release or explain the action, which is pending, on her district website. She could not be reached for comment."
"Sometimes bills are withdrawn only to be re-introduced with more precise language."
"When she introduced her bill, Blood said it was in support of state farm groups in hopes for the betterment of Nebraska and its future agricultural growth."

Nebraska lawmakers to consider ban on labeling meat-substitutes as ‘meat'

January 13, 2018 from the TheHill: and APNews:

"Lawmakers in Nebraska this year will consider legislation that would ban companies from labeling plant-based, insect-based and lab-grown products as meat." "Those products could include veggie burgers and tofu dogs."
"The consideration of the bill comes after Missouri in August became the first state to ban meat-substitute products from being labeled as 'meat.'"
"Nebraska led the nation in commercial red meat production in 2017 and had the most feed cows as of last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Livestock and livestock product sales generated an estimated $12.1 billion for the state’s economy in 2016, according to the USDA’s most recent available data."