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GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 2
HOUSE BILL 134
Committee Substitute Favorable 3/11/25
Short Title: Prohibit Misbranding of Certain Food Products. (Public)
Sponsors:
Referred to:
February 18, 2025
*H134-v-2*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO PROHIBIT THE MISBRANDING OF CERTAIN FOOD PRODUCTS. 2
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 3
SECTION 1.(a) G.S. 106-549.15 reads as rewritten: 4
"§ 106-549.15. Definitions. 5
As used in this Article, except as otherwise specified, the following terms shall have the 6
meanings stated below: 7
… 8
(1a) "Agricultural food animal " means a domesticated animal belonging to the 9
bovine, caprine, ovine, or porcine species. 10
… 11
(5a) "Cell-cultured food product" means a food product having one or more 12
sensory attributes that resemble a type of tissue originating from an 13
agricultural food animal but that, in lieu of being derived from meat 14
processing, is derived from manufacturing cells, in which one or more stem 15
cells are initially isolated from an agricultural food animal, are grown in vitro, 16
and may be manipulated, as part of a manufacturing operation. 17
(5b) "Close proximity" means any of the following: 18
a. Immediately before or after the name of the product. 19
b. In the line of the label immediately before or after the line containing 20
the name of the product. 21
c. Within the same phrase or sentence containing the name of the 22
product. 23
… 24
(9a) "Identifying meat term " means any word or phrase that states, indicates, 25
suggests, or describes a meat product, regardless of whether the word or 26
phrase is used individually, as a portmanteau, or as a compound word. Th is 27
term includes all of the following: 28
a. A common name for the species of the agricultural food animal subject 29
to slaughter and processing, including a calf or cow, goat or kid, hog 30
or pig, lamb, or sheep. 31
b. A common name for a characteristic of a species of the agricultural 32
food animal subject to slaughter and pr ocessing based on age, breed, 33
or sex. 34
c. Meat; beef or veal; cabrito or chevon; lamb or mutton; or pork. 35
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 134-Second Edition
d. A common name used to describe a major cut of a meat of an 1
agricultural food animal slaughtered and processed, including a major 2
meat cut specified in 9 C.F.R. § 317.344, or the common name of an 3
organ or offal, including heart, liver, kidney, or tongue. 4
e. Any other common name that a reasonable purchaser would 5
immediately and exclusively associate with a meat product prepared 6
for sale in normal commercial channels such as bacon, baloney, 7
bologna, bone, brat or bratwurst, brisket, burger or hamburger, butt, 8
chop, chuck, cold cut, cutlet, filet, flat iron, frank or frankfurter, ham, 9
hock, hot dog, jerky, liverwurst, loin, London broil, lunch meat, New 10
York strip, pepperoni, porterhouse, ribeye, roast, rib or sparerib, 11
salami, sausage, shank, sirloin, tenderloin, or a comparable word or 12
phrase. 13
… 14
(14) "Meat food product" means any product capable of use as human food that is 15
made wholly or in part fr om any meat or other portion of the carcass of any 16
cattle, sheep, swine, goats, bison, fallow deer, or red deer, or any cell-cultured 17
food product made from cells of those animals , excepting products that 18
contain meat or other portions of such carcasses on ly in a relatively small 19
proportion or historically have not been considered by consumers as products 20
of the meat food industry, and that are exempted from definition as a meat 21
food product by the Board under such conditions as it may prescribe to assure 22
that the meat or other portions of such carcasses contained in such product are 23
not adulterated and that such products are not represented as meat food 24
products. This term as applied to food products of equines shall have a 25
meaning comparable to that provided in this subdivision with respect to cattle, 26
sheep, swine, goats, and bison. 27
(15) "Misbranded" shall apply to any carcass, part thereof, meat or meat food 28
product under one or more of the following circumstances: 29
a. If its labeling is false or misleading in any particular; 30
b. If it is offered for sale under the name of another food; 31
c. If it is imitation of another food, unless its label bears, in type of 32
uniform size and prominence, the word "imitation" and immediately 33
thereafter, the name of the food imitated; 34
… 35
m. The product is a cell -cultured food product and it is not labeled in 36
accordance with G.S. 106-549.28A. 37
… 38
(21a) "Qualifying term " means a word , compound word, or phrase that would 39
clearly disclose to a reasonable purchaser of meat food products that a food 40
product is a cell-cultured meat product. This includes the following terms: 41
"cell-cultured," "fake," "lab-grown," or "grown in a lab." 42
(21b) "Ratite" means a bird whose breastbone is smooth so that flight muscles 43
cannot attach, such as an ostrich, an emu, and a rhea. These birds are subject 44
to the provisions of this Article and Article 49C to the same extent as any other 45
meat food product. 46
…." 47
SECTION 1.(b) Article 49B of Chapter 106 of the General Statutes is amended by 48
adding a new section to read: 49
"§ 106-549.28A. Labeling of cell-cultured food products. 50
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
House Bill 134-Second Edition Page 3
(a) The label of a ny cell-cultured food product that contains an identifying meat term 1
shall also contain in at least 20-point font or the size of the surrounding type, whichever is greater, 2
and in close proximity to the name of the product, an appropriate qualifying term. 3
(b) A cell-cultured food product that does not meet the requirements of this section shall 4
be deemed misbranded for purposes of this Article." 5
SECTION 2.(a) G.S. 106-549.51 reads as rewritten: 6
"§ 106-549.51. Definitions. 7
For purposes of this Article, the following terms shall have the meanings stated below: 8
… 9
(4a) "Cell-cultured food product" means a food product having one or more 10
sensory attributes that r esemble a type of tissue originating from poultry but 11
that, in lieu of being derived from meat processing, is derived from 12
manufacturing cells, in which one or more stem cells are initially isolated from 13
poultry, are grown in vitro, and may be manipulated, as part of a 14
manufacturing operation. 15
(4b) "Close proximity" means any of the following: 16
a. Immediately before or after the name of the product. 17
b. In the line of the label immediately before or after the line containing 18
the name of the product. 19
c. Within the same phrase or sentence containing the name of the 20
product. 21
… 22
(10a) "Identifying poultry term " means any word or phrase that states, indicates, 23
suggests, or describes a poultry product, regardless of whether the word or 24
phrase is used individually, as a portmanteau, or as a compound word. This 25
term includes all of the following: 26
a. A common name for the species of the poultry subject to slaughter and 27
processing, including chicken, poultry, or turkey. 28
b. A common name for a characteristic of a species of the poultry subject 29
to slaughter and processing based on age, breed, or sex. 30
c. Meat, broiler, fryer, poulet, or yearling. 31
d. A common name used to describe a major cut of poultry slaughtered 32
and processed, including a poultry product such as breast, drumstick, 33
giblet, thigh, or wing; or the common name of an organ or offal, 34
including gizzard, heart, liver, kidney, or tongue. 35
e. Any other common name that a reasonable purchaser would 36
immediately and exclusively associate with a poultry product prepared 37
for sale in normal commercial channels. 38
… 39
(17) "Misbranded" shall apply to any poultry product under one or more of the 40
following circumstances: 41
a. If its labeling is false or misleading in any particular; 42
b. If it is offered for sale under the name of another food; 43
c. If it is an imitation of another food, unless its label bears, in type of 44
uniform size and prominence, the word "imitation" and immediately 45
thereafter, the name of the food imitated; 46
… 47
m. If it is a cell-cultured food product and it is not labeled in accordance 48
with G.S. 106-549.55(e). 49
… 50
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 4 House Bill 134-Second Edition
(26) "Poultry product" means any poultry carcass, or part thereof; or any product 1
which is made wholly or in part from any poultry carcass or part thereof, or 2
any cell-cultured food product made from cells of poultry, excepting products 3
which contain poultry ingredients only in a relatively small proportion or 4
historically have not been considered by consumers as products of the poultry 5
food industry, and which are exemp ted by the Board from definition as a 6
poultry product under such conditions as the Board may prescribe to assure 7
that the poultry ingredients in such products are not adulterated and that such 8
products are not represented as poultry products. 9
… 10
(28a) "Qualifying term " means a word , compound word, or phrase that would 11
clearly disclose to a reasonable purchaser of poultry products that a food 12
product is a cell-cultured food product. This includes the following terms: 13
"cell-cultured," "fake," "lab-grown," or "grown in a lab." 14
…." 15
SECTION 2.(b) G.S. 106-549.55 reads as rewritten: 16
"§ 106 -549.55. Labeling standards; false and misleading labels.labels; labeling of 17
cell-cultured food products. 18
… 19
(e) The label of any cell-cultured food product that contains an identifying poultry term 20
shall also contain in at least 20-point font or the size of the surrounding type, whichever is greater, 21
and in close proximity to the name of the product, an appropriate qualifying term." 22
SECTION 3. This act becomes effective October 1, 2025, and applies to products 23
sold or offered for sale on or after that date. 24