HB0804 • 2026

Food and Food Products

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4; Title 39; Title 40; Title 43; Title 44; Title 47 and Title 53, relative to food.

Agriculture

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: Grills, Rose
Last action: 2025-05-15
Official status: Comp. became Pub. Ch. 450
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material did not provide specific details on penalties for mislabeling or enforcement mechanisms beyond fines.

Labeling Rules for Cell-Cultured Food Products

This bill prohibits labeling cell-cultured food products as meat or meat products and requires the Tennessee Department of Agriculture to establish a permitting program with specific criteria.

What This Bill Does

Prohibits labeling cell-cultured food products as 'meat' or 'meat product'.
Defines 'cell-cultured food product' as any food produced without slaughter by growing cells in a controlled environment.
Requires the Tennessee Department of Agriculture to create rules for selling these products, including fees and approval processes.
Sets an annual permit fee of $1,000 for companies that want to sell cell-cultured foods in Tennessee.

Who It Names or Affects

Companies making or selling cell-cultured food products
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture

Terms To Know

cell-cultured food product: A type of food made by growing cells in a lab without slaughtering animals.
misbranded: When a product's label is not truthful or accurate according to the law.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not specify penalties for violating these new rules.
It only applies to Tennessee and doesn't change federal laws.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HA0227

Amendment 1-0 to HB0804

Plain English: The amendment adds new definitions and regulations for cell-cultured food products in Tennessee, including labeling restrictions and permit requirements.

Defines 'cell-cultured food product' as a food made from cells grown without slaughter of animals.
Prohibits labeling such products as meat or poultry unless they indicate the species origin and that it is a substitute for meat or poultry.
Requires manufacturers to obtain permits to sell cell-cultured food products in Tennessee, with specific criteria and timelines set by state rules.

The exact details of how the permitting process will be implemented are not fully specified in this amendment text.

SA0158

Amendment 1-0 to SB0931

Plain English: The amendment adds new sections to Tennessee Code Annotated that regulate cell-cultured food products by prohibiting misleading labels and requiring manufacturers to obtain permits.

Defines 'cell-cultured food product' as a food made from cells grown in a controlled environment, without slaughtering animals.
Prohibits labeling such products as meat or poultry unless the label specifies that it is not actual meat or poultry and provides information about the species used.
Requires manufacturers to obtain permits for selling cell-cultured food products in Tennessee.

The exact process and criteria for obtaining permits are left to be determined by future rules from the Department of Agriculture.

Bill History

2025-05-15 Tennessee General Assembly
Comp. became Pub. Ch. 450
2025-05-15 Tennessee General Assembly
Effective date(s) 05/09/2025, 07/01/2025
2025-05-15 Tennessee General Assembly
Pub. Ch. 450
2025-05-09 Tennessee General Assembly
Signed by Governor.
2025-05-01 Tennessee General Assembly
Transmitted to Governor for action.
2025-04-30 Tennessee General Assembly
Signed by H. Speaker
2025-04-29 Tennessee General Assembly
Signed by Senate Speaker
2025-04-28 Tennessee General Assembly
Enrolled and ready for signatures
2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly
Comp. SB subst.
2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly
Sponsor(s) Added.
2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly
Passed H., Ayes 81, Nays 5, PNV 7
2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly
Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0227)
2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly
Subst. for comp. HB.
2025-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly
H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/21/2025
2025-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/17/2025
2025-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly
Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee
2025-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Government Operations Committee for 4/14/2025
2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly
Action def. in Government Operations Committee to 4/14/2025
2025-04-03 Tennessee General Assembly
Sponsor(s) Added.
2025-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Government Operations Committee for 4/7/2025
2025-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly
Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Government Operations Committee
2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly
Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
2025-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly
Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
2025-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly
Sponsor(s) Added.
2025-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly
Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 32, Nays 0
2025-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly
Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0158)
2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee for 4/1/2025
2025-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly
Action def. in Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee to 4/1/2025
2025-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/27/2025
2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee for 3/25/2025
2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly
Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0
2025-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly
Action def. in Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee to 3/25/2025
2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on cal. Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee for 3/18/2025
2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly
Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee
2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on Senate Health and Welfare Committee calendar for 3/19/2025
2025-03-10 Tennessee General Assembly
Placed on s/c cal Agriculture & Natural Resources Subcommittee for 3/12/2025
2025-03-10 Tennessee General Assembly
Assigned to s/c Agriculture & Natural Resources Subcommittee
2025-03-10 Tennessee General Assembly
Ref. to Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee - Government Operations for Review
2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly
Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Health and Welfare Committee
2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly
Introduced, Passed on First Consideration
2025-02-06 Tennessee General Assembly
P2C, caption bill, held on desk - pending amdt.
2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly
Intro., P1C.
2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly
Filed for introduction
2025-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly
Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

ON MARCH 27, 2025,
THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 931, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 rewrites this bill to prohibit labeling a cell-cultured food product as meat or a meat food product.

This amendment defines
"
c
ell-cultured food product"
to mean
a fo
od product intended for use as human food that is produced without slaughter by growing, in a controlled environment, cells harvested from species amenable to the Federal Meat Inspection Act
,
the Federal Poultry Products Inspection Act, or cells harvested
from shellfish species or big game, game birds, or fish
.

Further, this amendment specifies that "cell-cultured food product" includes
food or a food additive produced in the manner described
in such definition a
nd used as an ingredient or component in a f
ood
.

This
amendment specifies that it d
oes not prohibit a label indicating the species from which the cells for the cell-cultured food product were harvested, that the product was produced from the applicable species or is intended as a substitute for me
at or poultry, or another similar description.

A cell cultured food product that is labeled
in violation of this amendment is
misbranded
for purposes of the Tennessee Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. This amendment requires the department of agriculture to
assess a fine of $2,000 for each product misbranded
.

This amendment requires the department to
promulgate rules to implement and administer a
permitting
program
for sales of
cell-cultured food products in
Tennessee
. Such rules must include, but not be l
imited to, provisions to establish:

(1) A fee in an amount sufficient to defray the cost of implementing and administering the permitting program
. This amendment sets the annual permit fee amount at $1,000
;

(2) A process for the review and approval o
f permit applications; and

(3) Specific criteria for approval of the applications and a timeline for such approval not less than 90 days.

The criteria must not exceed the requirements set forth by the federal food and drug administration under the Feder
al Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act
or
the United States department of agriculture under the federal Meat Inspection Act and the federal Poultry Products Inspection Act.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

SENATE BILL 931
By Rose

HOUSE BILL 804
By Grills

HB0804
002516
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4;
Title 39; Title 40; Title 43; Title 44; Title 47 and
Title 53, relative to food.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 53-1-204(a)(2)(C), is amended by
deleting "July 1" and substituting "July 15".
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.