My Partner Paul Benson recently posted about the “yuck factor” inhibiting any serious movement toward insect protein consumption as a replacement for traditional meat.  Another “yuck factor” at play for livestock protein replacement is lab-cultured meat and meat alternatives fashioned out of insect protein.  As recently reported in Drovers, Iowa became the third state to regulate the sale of such products within its borders (Florida and Alabama are the other two).  Effective July 1, lab-grown meat and plant-based imitation meat and egg products will have to be labeled with words such as cell-cultured, lab-grown, fake, lab-grown, meatless, or imitation, if sold in Iowa stores.  The new law also prohibits Iowan-funded public schools, universities and colleges from buying such imitation meat and egg products.

Without denying that such measures protect existing livestock production and processing industries, proponents of such measures point to the transparency in labeling to avoid consumer confusion over the true source of the “meat.”  Other states with significant livestock and agricultural economies are expected to follow these leads.