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SB0148 • 2026

Food and Food Products

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 40; Title 44; Title 47; Title 49 and Title 53, relative to cell-cultured food products.

Children Education
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Pody
Last action
2025-01-27
Official status
Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official bill text does not explicitly mention that parents and students can sue, but it implies they have legal recourse through civil actions against LEAs or public institutions of higher education.

Law About Lab-Grown Food

This law changes how Tennessee defines meat and poultry to exclude lab-grown food products and stops schools and colleges from serving these foods.

What This Bill Does

  • Changes the definition of 'meat' in Tennessee laws to not include cell-cultured food products.
  • Changes the definition of 'poultry' in Tennessee laws to not include cell-cultured food products.
  • Prohibits local education agencies, public charter schools, and public institutions of higher education from offering or distributing lab-grown meat products through their school nutrition programs or other food services.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Local education agencies, public charter schools, and public institutions of higher education in Tennessee
  • Parents whose children attend schools that serve lab-grown meat products
  • Students who eat at colleges or universities that offer lab-grown meat products

Terms To Know

cell-cultured food product
A type of food made by growing cells from animals, poultry, fish, or shellfish in a controlled environment without slaughtering the animal.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The law only applies to schools and colleges that receive funding for their nutrition programs.
  • This act will end on July 1, 2035.
  • It does not affect private schools or non-public institutions of higher education.

Bill History

  1. Date Tennessee General Assembly

  2. 2025-01-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee

  3. 2025-01-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  4. 2025-01-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Abstract summarizes the bill.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
<BillNo> <Sponsor>

SENATE BILL 148
By Pody

SB0148
001123
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 40;
Title 44; Title 47; Title 49 and Title 53, relative to
cell-cultured food products.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 53-7-202, is amended by adding the
following new subdivision:
( ) "Cell-cultured food product":
(A) Means a food 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, as those terms are defined in § 70-1-101; and
(B) Includes food or a food additive produced in the manner described in
subdivision ( )(A) and used as an ingredient or component in a food;
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 53-7-202, is amended by deleting
subdivision (15) and substituting:
(15) "Meat":
(A) Means the edible part of the muscle of cattle, deer, sheep, swine, or
goats that is skeletal or that is found in the tongue, in the diaphragm, in the heart,
or in the esophagus, with or without the accompanying and overlying fat, and the
portions of bone, skin, sinew, nerve, and blood vessels that normally accompany
the muscle tissue and that are not separated from it in the process of dressing;
and

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(B) Does not include:
(i) The muscle found in the lips, snout, or ears; or
(ii) A cell-cultured food product;
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 53-7-202, is amended by deleting
subdivision (21) and substituting:
(21) "Poultry":
(A) Means a live or slaughtered domesticated bird; and
(B) Does not include a cell-cultured food product;
SECTION 4. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 6, is amended by adding
the following as a new part:
49-6-4601. Part definition.
As used in this part, "cell-cultured food product":
(1) Means a food 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 (21 U.S.C.
§ 601 et seq.); the Federal Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. § 451 et
seq.); or cells harvested from shellfish species or big game, game birds, or fish,
as those terms are defined in § 70-1-101; and
(2) Includes food or a food additive produced in the manner described in
subdivision (1) and used as an ingredient or component in a food.
49-6-4602. Prohibition on cell-cultured food products in school lunch programs.
An LEA or public charter school shall not offer or distribute a cell-cultured food
product through the LEA's or public charter school's school nutrition program or another
source through which the LEA or public charter school provides food to students.
49-6-4603. Remedy.

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A parent who is affected, or whose student is affected, by a violation of this part
may bring a civil action against the LEA or public charter school in a court of competent
jurisdiction. The court in such action:
(1) May award compensatory damages, injunctive relief, or any other
appropriate relief to a prevailing party who establishes a violation of this part; and
(2) Shall award court costs, expenses, and reasonable attorney fees to a
prevailing party who establishes a violation of this part.
49-6-4604. Repeal.
This part terminates on July 1, 2035.
SECTION 5. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 1, Part 1, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
49-7-190.
(a) As used in this section, "cell-cultured food product":
(1) Means a food 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 (21 U.S.C.
§ 601 et seq.); the Federal Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. § 451 et
seq.); or cells harvested from shellfish species or big game, game birds, or fish,
as those terms are defined in § 70-1-101; and
(2) Includes food or a food additive produced in the manner described in
subdivision (a)(1) and used as an ingredient or component in a food.
(b) A public institution of higher education shall not offer or distribute a cell-
cultured food product in the institution's food service center or another source through
which the institution provides food to students.

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(c) A student who is affected by a violation of this section may bring a civil action
against the public institution of higher education in a court of competent jurisdiction. The
court in such action:
(1) May award compensatory damages, injunctive relief, or any other
appropriate relief to a prevailing party who establishes a violation of this section;
and
(2) Shall award court costs, expenses, and reasonable attorney fees to a
prevailing party who establishes a violation of this section.
(d) This section terminates on July 1, 2035.
SECTION 6. The headings in this act are for reference purposes only and do not
constitute a part of the law enacted by this act. However, the Tennessee Code Commission is
requested to include the headings in any compilation or publication containing this act.
SECTION 7. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it.