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SB0260 • 2026

Food and Food Products

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 44; Title 47, Chapter 18 and Title 53, relative to meat.

Active

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

Sponsor
Pody
Last action
2025-02-10
Official status
Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Health and Welfare Committee
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The candidate explanation included claims that were not supported by the provided official source material, such as changing other laws about meat labeling.

Labeling Meat as 'mRNA Free'

This bill allows meat products to be labeled as 'mRNA free' if the animals used did not receive an mRNA vaccine.

What This Bill Does

  • Defines what an mRNA vaccine or vaccine material is in Tennessee law.
  • Allows people to label meat or meat products as 'mRNA free' if the animals were not given an mRNA vaccine.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Meat producers and sellers
  • Consumers who buy meat

Terms To Know

mRNA vaccine or vaccine material
A substance that helps the body fight diseases by using a type of genetic material called mRNA to make proteins from viruses.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not address consequences for false labeling.
  • Does not change other laws about meat labeling.

Bill History

  1. Date Tennessee General Assembly

  2. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  3. 2025-01-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  4. 2025-01-23 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 260
By Pody

SB0260
000145
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 44;
Title 47, Chapter 18 and Title 53, relative to meat.

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 as a new subdivision:
( ) "mRNA vaccine or vaccine material" means a substance to stimulate the
production of antibodies and provide immunity against disease by introducing
messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) that corresponds to a viral protein;
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 53-7-205, is amended by adding the
following as a new subsection:
(d) This section or another law does not prohibit a person from labeling meat or
a meat product as "mRNA free" or any similar designation, if the animals from which the
meat or meat product was derived were not administered an mRNA vaccine or vaccine
material.
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.