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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.

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.
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

  1. 2025-05-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. became Pub. Ch. 450

  2. 2025-05-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Effective date(s) 05/09/2025, 07/01/2025

  3. 2025-05-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Pub. Ch. 450

  4. 2025-05-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Governor.

  5. 2025-05-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Transmitted to Governor for action.

  6. 2025-04-30 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by H. Speaker

  7. 2025-04-29 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Senate Speaker

  8. 2025-04-28 Tennessee General Assembly

    Enrolled and ready for signatures

  9. 2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. SB subst.

  10. 2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  11. 2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., Ayes 81, Nays 5, PNV 7

  12. 2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0227)

  13. 2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Subst. for comp. HB.

  14. 2025-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/21/2025

  15. 2025-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/17/2025

  16. 2025-04-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee

  17. 2025-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Government Operations Committee for 4/14/2025

  18. 2025-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action def. in Government Operations Committee to 4/14/2025

  19. 2025-04-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  20. 2025-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Government Operations Committee for 4/7/2025

  21. 2025-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Government Operations Committee

  22. 2025-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.

  23. 2025-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to House

  24. 2025-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  25. 2025-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 32, Nays 0

  26. 2025-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0158)

  27. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee for 4/1/2025

  28. 2025-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action def. in Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee to 4/1/2025

  29. 2025-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/27/2025

  30. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee for 3/25/2025

  31. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0

  32. 2025-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action def. in Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee to 3/25/2025

  33. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee for 3/18/2025

  34. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee

  35. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Health and Welfare Committee calendar for 3/19/2025

  36. 2025-03-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Agriculture & Natural Resources Subcommittee for 3/12/2025

  37. 2025-03-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Agriculture & Natural Resources Subcommittee

  38. 2025-03-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Ref. to Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee - Government Operations for Review

  39. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Health and Welfare Committee

  40. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  41. 2025-02-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, caption bill, held on desk - pending amdt.

  42. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  43. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  44. 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.