UPSIDE Foods, a company that produces meat cultivated in a lab, filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday challenging Florida\u2019s new ban on the production, distribution and sale of lab-grown meat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lawsuit<\/u><\/a>, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, argues the ban unconstitutionally favors in-state businesses at the expense of out-of-state competitors because cultivated meat is produced outside of Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Institute of Justice (IJ), which is representing UPSIDE Foods, said in a press release<\/u><\/a> \u201cthe law seeks to protect local meat producers from competition, undermining the principles of a national common market.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf some Floridians don\u2019t like the idea of eating cultivated chicken, there\u2019s a simple solution: Don\u2019t eat it,\u201d IJ senior attorney Paul Sherman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe government has no right to tell consumers who\u202fwant to try cultivated meat that they\u2019re not allowed to. This law is not about safety; it\u2019s about stifling innovation and protecting entrenched interests at the expense of consumer choice,\u201d Sherman added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cultivated meat is different from vegan and vegetarian products that try to mimic the taste of meat products using ingredients such as soy, legumes or vegetables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n UPSIDE says its meat is grown directly from real animal cells in an effort to preserve the nature and authentic taste of original meat products without needing to raise and slaughter animals. UPSIDE is one of only two companies in the U.S. authorized to sell lab-grown meat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n