Missouri is the first state to take steps to prevent misrepresentation of products as meat that are not derived from livestock or poultry. The Missouri Department of Agriculture offered clarification on how these changes will be implemented in a notice following the implementation of legislation approved earlier this summer.

Missouri first enacted the Meat Advertising Law in 1985 with the intention of promoting truthful and accurate advertising. Since that year, the state has provided specific requirements on meat advertising through the Missouri Meat Advertising Law. On Aug. 28, 2018, Missouri made effective new provisions that are intended to prevent the misrepresentation of a product as meat if it was not derived from livestock or poultry.

“Our goal at the Missouri Department of Agriculture is to promote transparency for consumers while balancing that with common sense to minimize market disruptions for existing products,” a statement from the Missouri Department of Agriculture said. “As with any piece of new legislation, it is important to our team that we implement these changes in a way that is both transparent to citizens and clear to the regulated business community. We have completed our thoughtful review of current state and federal standards, evaluated existing products in the marketplace and visited with stakeholders.”

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The Missouri Department of Agriculture said it is providing the following guidance to its Meat & Poultry Inspection Program to implement the law:

Products must include a prominent statement on the front of the package, immediately before or immediately after the product name, that the product is “plant-based,” “veggie,” “lab-grown,” “lab-created” or a comparable qualifier, and products must include a prominent statement on the package that the product is “made from plants,” “grown in a lab” or a comparable disclosure.
No enforcement referrals will be made until Jan. 1, 2019.

“Our team will make any necessary changes to this guidance based on future action by the Missouri General Assembly, Congress, federal agencies or any court,” the department added.

Ethan Brown, chief executive officer and founder of Beyond Meat, said he was pleased that the legislation did not disallow the descriptor “plant-based meat” and that the company plans to continue operating under the newly released Missouri guidelines.

“We are satisfied we were able to reach an understanding with the state of Missouri that affirms our use of a ‘plant-based’ qualifier on our packaging is fair and accurate. We believe that we are building meat directly from plants and that consumers are not only accepting of this innovation but enthusiastically embracing it,” Brown said. “Free speech, commerce that is unstifled by unnecessary government interference, and consumer choice are foundations of our country. To this end, we are pleased that the legislation did not go so far as to disallow our use of the descriptor plant-based meat, and we plan to continue operating under the newly released guidelines, selling our delicious plant-based burgers, sausages and beyond.”