KLS Keeping Law Simple Legislation in plain English

Straight-ahead summaries built from the official bill text. We keep the source links front and center and leave the decision up to you.

Back to Tennessee

SB0931 • 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
Active

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

Sponsor
Rose, Grills
Last action
2025-05-15
Official status
Effective date(s) 05/09/2025, 07/01/2025
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary text did not provide specific enforcement mechanisms beyond fines, leaving some uncertainty about how compliance will be monitored.

Labeling Rules for Cell-Cultured Food Products

This bill changes Tennessee's food labeling laws to prohibit calling cell-cultured foods 'meat' or 'poultry meat', and sets up a permitting system with fines for violations.

What This Bill Does

  • Changes the law so that cell-cultured food products cannot be labeled as meat or poultry meat.
  • Defines cell-cultured food product to mean any food made from cells grown in a lab, without slaughtering animals, and includes species amenable to federal inspection acts and shellfish, big game, game birds, or fish.
  • Allows labels to say which animal species the cells came from and that it's meant to replace meat or poultry.
  • Requires the Tennessee Department of Agriculture to create rules for permitting sales of these products, including fees, application review processes, and approval criteria.
  • Sets fines up to $2,000 for mislabeling cell-cultured food products.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Food companies that make and sell cell-cultured foods in Tennessee
  • The Tennessee Department of Agriculture

Terms To Know

cell-cultured food product
A type of food made by growing animal cells in a lab without slaughtering animals, including species amenable to federal inspection acts and shellfish, big game, game birds, or fish.
misbranded
When a product's label is not truthful or accurate according to the law.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify how it will be enforced beyond setting fines.
  • It only applies to cell-cultured foods and does not change other food labeling rules.
  • The exact details of the permitting program are left up to future regulations by the Department of Agriculture.

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 slaughtering animals or harvesting shellfish, big game, game birds, or fish.
  • Prohibits labeling such products as meat or poultry unless they indicate the species origin and state 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 the Department of Agriculture.
  • The exact process and criteria for obtaining permits are not fully detailed in the 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

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

  2. 2025-05-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Pub. Ch. 450

  3. 2025-05-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. became 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

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

  10. 2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0227)

  11. 2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Subst. for comp. HB.

  12. 2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. SB subst.

  13. 2025-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  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

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/27/2025

  29. 2025-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  30. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  31. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

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

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

  34. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  35. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  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

    Filed for introduction

  43. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  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 
HOUSE BILL 804
By Grills

SENATE BILL 931
By Rose

SB0931
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.