Montana Becomes Latest State To Ban Lab-Grown Meat 

On Tuesday, Montana State Governor Greg Gianforte announced that he had signed a bill into law banning the manufacturing and sale of lab-grown meat. 

“So-called “lab-grown meat” has no place in Montana,” Gov. Gianforte wrote on X, adding, “By signing HB 401 into law, I am proud to defend our way of life and the hardworking Montana ranchers who produce the best beef in the world.”

So-called “lab-grown meat” has no place in Montana.

By signing HB 401 into law, I am proud to defend our way of life and the hardworking Montana ranchers who produce the best beef in the world. pic.twitter.com/INc2WuAvNI

— Governor Greg Gianforte (@GovGianforte) May 13, 2025

Montana is now the fifth state in the nation to pass legislation prohibiting lab-cultivated proteins. The push comes after concurrent Biden-era policies that simultaneously created a loophole for safety testing while prioritizing lab-cultivated proteins as “Climate-Friendly” ahead of labeling requirements. 

Not exactly a drug, but not necessarily food harvested in nature, in 2019, Congress directed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a formal agreement delineating each agency’s responsibilities for regulating lab-made or “cellular-cultivated” meat.

By early 2021, the Biden administration prioritized lab-made meat products as a “Climate-Smart” Agricultural alternative, promising a fast track to manufacturers Good Meat Inc and the Bill Gates-backed Upside Foods.

By 2023, the FDA had issued a “No Questions Asked” approval for lab-cultivated “chicken cells with characteristics of fibroblasts.” 

While the USDA does not regulate processed food, the agreement stipulated that the USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) would be handed off regulatory oversight “at the point of harvest.” 

Bureaucratic translation: The USDA’s regulatory role would be limited to “labeling and sanitation.” 

While sanitation seems fairly straightforward, it’s the labeling requirement – which has yet to materialize – that has state lawmakers pumping the brakes.

Since early 2020, FSIS has gone round-after-round with “stakeholders” about what to call this petri-dish creation. During the last round of “name the thingamajig” stakeholders warned the FSIS that transparent labeling would “hamper innovation,” and “violate the First Amendment.”

To-date, the USDA has not fulfilled its regulatory role, according to the delineated agreement. To be fair, the FDA didn’t exactly uphold its end of the bargain either with fast-tracked “No Questions” approvals. 

Some employees are comparing the lab-grown meat startup, Upside Foods, to Theranos.

“Are we the next Theranos?” asks one former employee. “People are being lied to, but no one is going to die. Ideally.”

“Batches of meat growing in the custom-made bioreactors would frequently… pic.twitter.com/2kMhz7ZOju

— Meat Head (@markeatsmeat) September 27, 2023

Even as whistleblowers were equating lab-made meats to the next Theranos, the “Big 4″ meat packers began rapidly investing billions to replace ranchers with biotech.

With the FDA’s blessing and zero red tape requiring transparent labeling, companies like JBS, Tyson, and Cargill have quickly begun producing lab-grown beef, cultured chicken, pork, fish, sausages, burgers, meatballs, and other prepared foods.

While some argue that state-level bans harm the free market, local lawmakers see them as part of a larger fight to preserve Western values.

“Agriculture is our state’s number one industry, and this bill takes a clear stand to protect our ranchers and our food supply,” Montana State Rep. Braxton Mitchell said. “We won’t let synthetic products with misleading labels undercut the hard work of Montana’s farm and ranch families.”

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We’ve launched a “Rancher-Direct” e-commerce platform to secure access to clean, American-raised beef sourced from independent ranchers across the country.

Eat real food. Very simple.