Del. Scot Heckert, R-Wood, speaks before the House Public Health Subcommittee on March 4, 2025. (Photo by Perry Bennett/West Virginia Legislative Photography)
There is a legislative effort in West Virginia to ban lab-grown meat.
The House is expected to consider a Republican-backed measure. House Bill 4462that would ban the production and sale of cell-cultured foods in West Virginia.
The bill’s primary sponsor, Del. Scot Heckert, R-Wood, told lawmakers there is “concern about what impact it will have on the human body.”
A cell-cultured product is a food product obtained by harvesting animal cells and artificially replicating those cells in a laboratory. The tissue product produced is intended to resemble meat, fish, eggs and more in texture, taste and appearance.
During the debate, Del asked. Rep. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, explained why the bill is necessary and noted that it could potentially ban the popular Chinese-American appetizer “crab rangoon” — a fried wonton usually filled with imitation crab meat and cream cheese — in West Virginia.
“I thought we didn’t want the government constantly interfering in every issue, but that’s exactly what this bill is intended to do,” Young said. “Besides, I don’t really want to ban rangoon crab, so I’ll say no.”
Heckert told lawmakers the bill was presented to him by the Cattlemen Association and the Beef Association.
Selling lab-grown meat “could harm the farmers who are actually part of what made this country what it is, providing us with beef, good quality beef without antibiotics or steroids or synthetics or who knows what else is in that vat mixing the stuff together,” Heckert told members of the House Government Organizing Committee on Feb. 5.
Del. Dave Foggin, R-Wood, spoke in favor of the measure.
“I don’t care if people eat the Styrofoam out of their couch cushions. It doesn’t matter to me,” he said. “I have an uncanny ability to foresee the future and sometimes products like this are made very cheaply in large quantities and it won’t be long before we are feeding them to our school children at a profit.”
Democratic members of the The House Government Organization Committee opposed the measure, citing government overreach and possible lawsuits.
Del. Hollis Lewis, D-Kanawha, said labeling the products as cell-cultured or lab-grown should be enough.
“It’s going too far for us to just ban them completely,” Lewis said. “People have freedom of choice. So if they want to consume these products, then don’t do so as long as there is clear labeling.”
The Government Organization Committee of the House of Representatives The law was passed on Monday and is now before the full House of Representatives for a vote.
Alabama, Florida and other states have banned lab-grown meat, and even more states superior similar legislation.
The Florida ban is currently being challenged in court Upside Foods, a company specializing in farmed chicken products, sued the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services last year.
Upside Foods said that the Florida ban violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prevents states from setting limits on interstate commerce.
“The Florida law that this is an exact replica of that is being held up in court because of the Commerce Clause and litigation is expensive,” Young said. “I don’t know why we want to get involved in this.”
The bill does not provide for any possible penalties.
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