Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law SB 261 on June 25, 2025, making Texas the seventh state in the country to ban the sale of lab-grown meat. Other states that have enacted statewide bans include Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Montana, Indiana and Nebraska.

Many of the states that have enacted bans are known for their cattle ranching and meat production. Other states, such as Iowa, have amended labeling requirements for cell-cultured meat rather than enacting an outright ban.

Legal challenges have already arisen in response to several of the state bans. For example, Upside Foods—which has obtained government approval for its lab-grown meat products—has sued the state of Florida over its ban.

The new Texas law, which will take effect on Sept. 1, 2025, and remain in force through Sept. 7, 2027, unless extended, prohibits the sale of cell-cultured meat for human consumption under amendments to the Texas Health and Safety Code, and it carries civil and criminal penalties for violation. SB 261 defines cell-cultured protein as "a food product derived from harvesting animal cells and artificially replicating those cells in a growth medium to produce tissue."

The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association applauded the ban, stating that the law will "…prevent Texas consumers from being a science experiment as companies seek to profit from selling cell-cultured protein with no long-term health studies. This bill also pushes back on an agenda by certain radical groups and companies who seek to end traditional animal agriculture."

Texas' two-year ban on lab-grown meat follows the approach set by Indiana, which voted in May 2025 to outlaw the sale of cultivated meat products from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2027. If Indiana's ban is not renewed or extended after that date, then cultivated meat products sold in the state will be required to include language on the label that declares, "This is an imitation meat product."

Originally posted on Food Safety Magazine