Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Fair and Accurate Ingredient Representation on Labels Act of 2024” or the “FAIR Labels Act of 2024”.
Fair and Accurate Ingredient Representation on Labels Act of 2024
A BILL
To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act to ensure that consumers can make informed decisions in choosing between meat and poultry products and imitation meat and imitation poultry products, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Purpose
The purpose of this Act is to prevent food from being introduced or delivered into interstate commerce using a market name for meat or poultry products if the food does not meet the criterion set forth for meat products under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) or poultry products under the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.).
Sec. 3 Labeling of imitation meat and poultry products
Definitions—
Imitation meat— Section 1 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(x) Imitation meat—The term imitation meat means any food that—
“(1) uses a market name, descriptors, or iconography for, or is otherwise represented as, meat or meat food product, but does not contain meat, meat food product, or meat byproduct ingredients;
“(2) is manufactured to appear as a meat or meat food product, but does not contain meat, meat food product, or meat byproduct ingredients; or
“(3) approximates the aesthetic qualities (primarily texture, flavor, and appearance) or chemical characteristics of specific types of meat or meat food product, but does not contain any meat, meat food product, or meat byproduct ingredients.”
Poultry— Section 4 of the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 453) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(cc) Imitation poultry—The term imitation poultry means any food that—
“(1) uses a market name, descriptors, or iconography for, or is otherwise represented as, poultry or poultry product, but does not contain any poultry or poultry product;
“(2) is manufactured to appear as poultry or poultry product, but does not contain any poultry or poultry product; or
“(3) that approximates the aesthetic qualities (primarily texture, flavor, and appearance) or the chemical characteristics of specific types of poultry or poultry product, but does not contain any poultry or poultry product.”
Labeling—
Meat— Section 7 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 607) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(g) Imitation meat
“(1) In general—No imitation meat product shall be sold or offered for sale in commerce by any person, firm, or corporation without clearly indicating in a prominent and conspicuous manner—
“(A)
“(i) the word “imitation”, in type of uniform size and prominence, immediately adjacent to the name of the food on the label; or
“(ii) a statement that the imitation meat is derived from sources other than meat, in type of uniform size and prominence, immediately adjacent to the name of the food on the label; and
“(B) a disclaimer that clearly indicates that the imitation meat product is not derived from, or does not contain, meat, on the label.
“(2) No exceptions—The Secretary may not provide for any exceptions to the requirements under paragraph (1).”
Poultry— Section 8 of the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 457) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(e) Imitation poultry
“(1) In general—No imitation poultry shall be sold or offered for sale in commerce by any person, firm, or corporation without clearly indicating in a prominent and conspicuous manner—
“(A)
“(i) the word “imitation”, in type of uniform size and prominence, immediately adjacent to the name of the food on the label; or
“(ii) a statement that the imitation poultry product is derived from sources other than poultry, in type of uniform size and prominence, immediately adjacent to the name of the food on the label; and
“(B) a disclaimer that clearly indicates that the imitation poultry product is not derived from, or does not contain, poultry, on the label.
“(2) No exceptions—The Secretary may not provide for any exceptions to the requirements under paragraph (1).”
Sec. 4 Cell-cultured meat and poultry products
Definitions—
Meat— Section 1 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601) (as amended by section 3(a)(1)) is amended—
in subsection (j), in the first sentence, by striking “any product” and inserting “any product, including a cell-cultured meat product,”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(y) Cell-Cultured meat product—The term cell-cultured meat product means any product capable of use as human food that—
“(1) is made wholly or in part from any cell culture or the DNA of an amenable species; and
“(2) is grown or cultivated outside of the live animal from which the cell culture or DNA was acquired.”
Poultry— Section 4 of the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 453) (as amended by section 3(a)(2)) is amended—
in subsection (f), by striking “any product” and inserting “any product, including a cell-cultured poultry product,”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(dd) Cell-Cultured poultry product—The term cell-cultured poultry product means any product capable of use as human food that—
“(1) is made wholly or in part from any cell culture or the DNA of a live bird; and
“(2) is grown or cultivated outside of the live bird from which the cell culture or DNA was acquired.”
Labeling—
Meat— Section 7 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 607) (as amended by section 3(b)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(h) Cell-Cultured meat products—No cell-cultured meat product shall be sold or offered for sale in commerce by any person, firm, or corporation without clearly indicating in a prominent and conspicuous manner the words “cell-cultured” or “lab-grown”, in type of uniform size and prominence, immediately adjacent to the name of the food on the label.”
Poultry— Section 8 of the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 457) (as amended by section 3(b)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(f) Cell-Cultured poultry products—No cell-cultured poultry product shall be sold or offered for sale in commerce by any person, firm, or corporation without clearly indicating in a prominent and conspicuous manner the words “cell-cultured” or “lab-grown”, in type of uniform size and prominence, immediately adjacent to the name of the food on the label.”
Effect— Nothing in this section or the amendments made by this section prevents the Secretary of Health and Human Services, with respect to activities under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, from—
conducting premarket consultation processes to evaluate production materials and processes and manufacturing controls, including oversight of tissue collection, cell lines and banks, and all components and inputs;
overseeing initial cell collection and the development and maintenance of qualified cell banks;
overseeing proliferation and differentiation of cells up to the time of harvest;
ensuring that the appropriate entities comply with applicable requirements of the Food and Drug Administration, including facility registration, the current good manufacturing practices and preventive controls regulation, and requirements applicable to substances that become a component of food or otherwise affect the characteristics of food;
developing additional requirements for cell bank and cell culturing facility conditions and processes to ensure that biological material exiting the culture process is safe; or
conducting appropriate inspections and follow-up activities, including taking enforcement action if necessary, to ensure that cell bank and cell culturing facilities are in compliance with applicable laws (including regulations).