Bill Would Make Montana the Third U.S. State to Ban Sale of Lab-Grown 'Meat' in Montana

Under a bill in front of lawmakers in Helena, Montana plates and palates would never see a piece of lab-grown meat – a product Republican Rep. Randyn Gregg of White Sulphur Springs called “ Mary Sheldon’s Frankenstein meets Keanu Reeves in the Matrix.”

Rep. Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls, is carrying House Bill 401, which does not include bans on plant-based meat alternatives, but rather meat that is grown from animal cells. The bill’s long list of co-sponsors includes lawmakers from both parties.

“ This bill will help promote Montana’s agricultural industry,” Mitchell said. ”I think we have a unique opportunity here to put the hammer down clearly and show that we stand with agriculture and that we stand with our cattle ranchers.”

Last week, members of the House Agriculture Committee heard from seven supporters of the bill who said a statewide prohibition on the sale of lab-grown meat would protect both Montana’s health and its agriculture industry. There were no opponents at the hearing.

Caroline Canarios with the Northern Plains Resource Council said large meatpacking companies often fund the companies behind lab-grown meat.

“I think the reason is not just an interest in diversifying or thinking, ‘Oh, that’s kind of a cool new technology,’ but rather in owning the means of production, which is our ranchers,” Canarios said.

According to data from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, the value of animal and animal products in Montana topped $1.5 billion in 2022.

Karli Johnson of the Montana Farm Bureau Federation said she worries not only about the impact on ranchers but also that these products are not always labeled explicitly as lab-grown.

“The confusion around that can create not only a public health issue but also can create devastating economic impacts for our folks here in Montana,” Johnson said.

Lab-grown meat is already required to be labeled as such following legislation passed during the 2019 Montana Legislature.

Under this new 2025 bill, If someone is found guilty of sale of lab-grown meat in Montana, they would be charged with a misdemeanor and serve time in prison for no more than 60 days, but Mitchell said he would be open to scratching the imprisonment requirement.

Florida and Alabama have completely outlawed the sale of the product, and an Iowa law says it can not be labeled as animal meat.

The USDA has only approved two companies to produce lab-grown meat: GOOD Meat and UPSIDE Foods.

UPSIDE Foods currently only produces chicken. Their process begins by selecting cells from eggs, placing them in a cultivator with nutrients and cultivating for two to three weeks. The meat is then molded into the shape of a traditional cut of chicken.

In response to the Florida and Alabama bans, UPSIDE is gathering signatures on a petition to reverse the laws which they called “‘food policing’ to protect entrenched interests, defying free market principles and limiting consumer autonomy for a product the food safety experts at USDA and FDA have deemed safe,” according to their website.

The petition now has close to 8,500 signatures.

The Good Food Institute has called lab-grown meat a sustainable alternative to traditional cultivation.

“This shift could mitigate agriculture-related deforestation, biodiversity loss, antibiotic resistance, and zoonotic disease outbreaks,” the organization wrote in an article.

The House Agriculture Committee did not immediately vote on the bill.

Clayton Murphy is a reporter with the UM Legislative News Service, a partnership of the University of Montana School of Journalism, the Montana Broadcasters Association, the Montana Newspaper Association and the Greater Montana Foundation. Murphy can be reached at clayton.murphy@umconnect.umt.edu.