UPSIDE Foods, a California-based company, has filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against a new Florida law that bans the sale and manufacture of cultivated meat.
The company argues that the federal Poultry Products Inspection Act preempts the state law, citing the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Read: Institute For Justice Files Lawsuit Challenging Ban On Cultivated Meat In Florida
The Florida law, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis in May, makes it a second-degree misdemeanor to sell or manufacture cultivated meat, a product made by growing animal cells in a controlled environment.
UPSIDE Foods claims that an injunction against the law would not harm the state and is in the public interest as it would allow them to bring their innovative products to market and give consumers more food choices.
Read: Florida Slaughterhouse Abandoned After Racehorse Brutally Killed, Slaughtered For Meat
State Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, who supported the ban, dismissed the lawsuit as “ridiculous” and stated that lab-grown meat’s safety has not been adequately proven for consumers.
The case is scheduled for a scheduling conference before Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker on September 4th.
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