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Ag policy expert discusses lack of clarity surrounding lab-grown protein

An ag policy expert says there are still too many unknowns about lab-grown protein. 

Jack Hubbard, with the Center for Environment and Welfare tells Brownfield…

“There’s no long-term health studies. There’s a lack of transparency on the ingredients and the growth factors, so when consumers actually learn about the product, they’re turned off by it,” he says. “Not enough people know about it.”

He says transparency in labeling is needed.

“I think you need to make sure that packages in every single state clearly state ‘lab-grown meat’ so people know that this is stuff that’s grown in a lab and that isn’t natural farm-raised protein,” he says.

Cell-cultured protein starts with animal cells and is grown in a bioreactor.

The USDA regulates all meat and poultry labeling, including standard naming.

Alabama and Florida have already passed laws banning the sale of food products made from cultured animal cells. Florida’s ban is now being challenged in federal court.

Brownfield interviewed Hubbard during the recent Summit on Agriculture and Economic Development in Kearney, Nebraska.