When cell-based meat appears in grocery stores, it should be labeled so that consumers know it came from a lab and not from livestock, two cattle-state senators told the Trump administration’s nominee to run the USDA’s food safety unit on Wednesday. Labeling is one of the undecided issues for the nascent industry.
“I think the consumer has to know if the product comes from livestock or is cell-based,” responded the nominee, Mindy Brashears, a Texas Tech professor. “That will be an important message to have on our labels. We have to have transparency with our consumers. They have to know what they are eating.”
Some ranchers want to restrict use of the word “meat” to flesh from food animals. The FDA and USDA announced on Nov. 16 that they would share regulation of cell-based meat, with the FDA overseeing cell collection, cell banks, and cell growth, and the USDA overseeing the production and labeling of the products derived from the cells of livestock and poultry.
“We are going to have to be very careful and have strong oversight” to assure food safety when the industry, now in the research and development stage, moves to larger and larger production volumes, said Brashears.
Republican Sens. Steve Daines of Montana and John Hoeven of North Dakota questioned Brashears about labeling. “It’s very, very important USDA has that role and it is very clear what the consumer is getting,” said Hoeven.
Brashears was nominated to be undersecretary for food safety. Also testifying at the hearing were Scott Hutchens, who has been nominated for undersecretary for research, and Naomi Earp, nominated for assistant secretary for civil rights. After the hearing, committee chairman Pat Roberts said he saw no obstacle to Senate confirmation of the nominees during the lame duck session that is scheduled to end in mid-December.
To watch a video of the hearing, click here.