A bill to ban the sale of lab-grown meat to consumers, even for consumption by animals, narrowly passed the Arizona State House on Thursday.
HB 2121 by Representative David Marshall (R-Snowflake) passed the Arizona House with 31 votes in favor and 28 votes against, with one lawmaker absent. If passed by the Arizona Senate and signed into law by Governor Katie Hobbs, the legislation would ban any “cell-cultured animal product” from being sold to Arizona consumers for “human or animal consumption.”
Any individual or group caught violating the prohibition would face a civil penalty of up to $25,000, and would be open to civil lawsuits from those who purchased the lab-grown meat, which could result in damages of up to $100,000 plus attorneys fees.
The legislation defines “cell-cultured animal product” as “any cultured animal tissue that is produced from in vitro animal cell cultures outside of the organism from which it is derived,” which is the process by which most lab-grown meat is created.
