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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 169 / Friday, September 3, 2021 / Proposed Rules
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RFI, similar to this ANPR, soliciting comments on the labeling of seafood products under their jurisdiction and made using animal cell culture technology Labeling of Foods Comprised of or Containing Cultured Seafood Cells; Request for Information;
85 FR 63277. FSIS will consider comments submitted in response to FDAs RFI as it develops rules governing the labeling of cell cultured products, to the extent they are relevant to the development of joint labeling principles and the regulation of meat and poultry.
D. United States Cattlemens Association Petition The United States Cattlemens Association USCA filed a petition dated February 9, 2018, with FSIS
regarding the labeling of cultured meat.8
The petition requests that FSIS limit the definition of beef to products derived from cattle born, raised, and harvested in the traditional manner, and thereby prohibit foods comprised of or containing cultured animal cells from being labeled as beef. The petition similarly requests that FSIS limit the definition of meat to the tissue or flesh of animals that have been harvested in the traditional manner, and thereby prohibit foods comprised of or containing cultured animal cells from being labeled as meat.
FSIS received over 6000 comments 9
on the petition from trade associations, consumer advocacy groups, businesses operating in the meat, poultry, and cultured food product markets, and consumers. Most comments opposed the petition overall; however, nearly all generally agreed that cultured meat and beef should be labeled in a manner that indicates how it was produced and differentiates it from slaughtered meat products.
Several commenters, both for and against the petition, discussed the nature and source of cultured meat to support their arguments. Generally, commenters in support of the petition argued that cultured meat will not have the same characteristics as slaughtered meat or beef and, thus, should not be marketed as such. Commenters opposed to the petition, however, noted that cultured meat is derived from the same species as slaughtered meat and beef and can be produced with substantially similar characteristics as such products.
8 Petition 1801 Submitted by the U.S.
Cattlemens Association, February 9, 2018, available at https www.fsis.usda.gov/federal-register/
petitions/petition-limit-definition-beef-traditionalsources.
9 Public comments on Petition 1801 are available at https www.regulations.gov/document/FSIS2018-0016-0001/comment.

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Many commenters opposed to the petition also argued that the terms meat and beef were necessary to inform consumers of the texture, shape, and function of certain cultured meat products.
Commenters in support of the petition typically favored the creation of a standard of identity to differentiate slaughtered meat and beef from cultured products. Some livestock industry organizations that opposed the petition overall, also supported the creation of a standard of identity for cultured meat products. However, most opposed to the petition argued that standards of identity are not warranted, based on their assertions that cultured products, like slaughtered products, fall within the statutory and regulatory definitions of meat or meat food product under the FMIA.
Finally, some commenters expressed concern that the petition, if granted, would hamper innovation and, thereby, hurt the meat industry. A few others opposed the petition contending that the regulation of cultured meat labeling would violate the First Amendment.
E. Public Meeting on Animal Cell Culture Technology FSIS and FDA held a joint public meeting in October 2018 to discuss the potential hazards, oversight considerations, and labeling of cultured food products derived from livestock and poultry tissue 83 FR 46476. The aforementioned USCA petition was also a topic of discussion. Transcripts of the meeting are available on the FSIS
website.10
FSIS received approximately 315
comments on the joint public meeting, many of which were concerned with the labeling of cultured meat and poultry products. Comments expressed divergent views on whether cultured meat products should be labeled meat. Many felt the term would be misleading, arguing that cultured products are not produced in the same manner as, nor share substantially similar characteristics with, traditional meat. Some, however, felt it would be misleading not to refer to cultured products as meat, arguing that such products are derived from the same amenable livestock and can be produced to have the same characteristics as slaughtered meat products.
Many on both sides of the issue agreed that the product name and other 10 USDA and FDA Joint Public Meeting on the Use of Cell Culture Technology to Develop Products Derived from Livestock and Poultry, October 2324, 2018, available at https www.fsis.usda.gov/newsevents/events-meetings/usda-and-fda-joint-publicmeeting-use-cell-culture-technology-develop.

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information on cultured meat and poultry product labels should indicate they were made using animal cell culture technology. Some also asked FSIS to establish standards of identity for cultured products. A few commenters, however, opposed such requirements, reasoning that animal cell culture technology does not alter the basic characteristics of the foods and that a standard of identity or other new labeling rules would stifle innovation in the cultured foods industry. A few comments were also concerned that new labeling requirements would unnecessarily put cultured products at a competitive disadvantage to slaughtered products.
Commenters were also concerned with the regulation of special statements and claims on cell cultured products labels. Many comments asked FSIS to subject such claims to the same prior label approval process and oversight as slaughtered products. Others asked FSIS
to establish specific guidance for such claims to ensure they are truthful and supported by sound science. A few advocated that animal cell culture technology companies be allowed to make special statements and claims about the environmental, food safety, and other benefits of their products, so long as they provide evidence to support such assertions.
F. Harvard Law School Animal Law &
Policy Clinic Petition FSIS also has received a petition from the Harvard Law School Animal Law &
Policy Clinic dated June 9, 2020, concerning the labeling of products made using animal cell culture technology.11 The petition requests that FSIS adopt a labeling approach for cultured meat and poultry products that respects First Amendment commercial speech protections. The petition specifically requests that FSIS establish a labeling approach that does not require new standards of identity and does not ban the use of common or usual meat or poultry terms or other product terms specified in regulatory standards of identity. The petition asserts that FSIS should wait until the Agency has a better understanding of the compositional and safety characteristics of finished products made using animal cell culture technology, and until it has had the opportunity to review proposed labels, before establishing speech restrictions that could raise constitutional 11 Petition 2003 Submitted by Harvard Law School Animal Law & Policy Clinic, June 9, 2020, available at https www.fsis.usda.gov/policy/
petitions/.

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