Families across the U.S. are readying for summer 2025 barbecues amid a growing debate over the meat on those grills. Cultivated meat, a product of cutting-edge food science, offers an alternative to traditional meat by culturing animal cells in a lab, reducing environmental impacts and animal slaughter. However, several states are responding to this innovation with legislative restrictions, following the lead of Florida and Alabama, which enacted bans in 2024. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has described cultured meat as food created by culturing a small number of cells from living animals, such as livestock, poultry, or seafood, and growing them in a controlled environment using advanced cell culture technology. This blog post examines the states considering or implementing cultivated meat bans in 2025, highlighting those legislative efforts.

Arizona’s Approach to Cultivated Meat Bans

Arizona’s House Bill 2739, introduced in the 2025 legislative session, would require labeling food products derived from cultivated cells. The label must state, “This food product is derived from cultivated cells,” and be placed on the packaging by the manufacturer, packager, or retailer. Unlike states with outright cultured meat bans in 2025, Arizona’s measure focuses on consumer transparency, allowing the sale of cultivated meat while ensuring clear identification of its origin.

Georgia’s Cultivated Meat Ban Fails

Georgia’s House Bill 201, introduced in the 2025 legislative session, proposed prohibiting the sale, offering for sale, trading, or distribution of cultivated meat, defined as cell-cultured meat from animals like cattle, swine, sheep, goats, fish, or poultry raised for human consumption. The bill aimed to repeal conflicting laws but did not pass during the legislative session, leaving cultivated meat available in Georgia.

Mississippi Enacts Cultivated Meat Ban 

In March 2025, Mississippi’s legislature unanimously passed House Bill 1006, becoming the third state after Florida and Alabama to ban manufacturing, selling, or distributing cultivated food products derived from cultured animal cells. The law bans manufacturing, selling, or distributing cultivated food products from cultured animal cells, defining them as any food produced from cultured animal cells. Violations are misdemeanors, punishable by fines up to $500 or three months’ imprisonment. The Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce and the State Department of Health are authorized to enforce the ban, with measures like license suspensions for non-compliant retail food establishments. The law also prohibits labeling cultured cell products as meat to avoid consumer confusion.

The law, enacted without the governor’s signature, will take effect on July 1, 2025.

Nebraska’s Proposed Cultivated Meat Ban

In January 2025, Nebraska introduced LB 246, at the request of Governor Jim Pillen, to prohibit the production, import, distribution, promotion, display, or sale of cultivated-protein food products. The bill would define these as foods mimicking animal tissue, grown in vitro from stem cells initially isolated from agricultural animals, distinct from plant-based alternatives like Impossible Burger. Nebraska, the second-largest cattle-producing state after Texas, generates nearly $31.6 billion from its cattle and livestock industries, according to the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, underscoring the economic context of this proposed legislation.

South Dakota’s Cultivated Meat Funding Ban

South Dakota’s House Bill 1118, signed into law by Governor Larry Rhoden in February 2025, prohibits state funds from being used for the research, production, promotion, sale, or distribution of cell-cultured protein, defined as human food made from animal cell cultures or DNA grown outside a live animal. Exemptions apply to the Board of Regents, its institutions, and state agencies performing certain regulatory functions. The law reflects South Dakota’s focus on supporting its established meat industry by limiting financial backing for cultivated meat.