Gov. Reynolds signs Iowa Meat Integrity Bill

Starting July 1, any lab-grown, or plant/insect-based protein will need to include a qualifying term such as “meatless,” “fake,” or “imitation” to be sold in the state of Iowa. This week Gov. Kim Reynolds signed SF 2391 into law that prohibits the misbranding of certain food products, and provides penalties.

“This legislation prohibits companies from exploiting the trust consumers have with our livestock producers and misleading consumers into buying products they don’t want,” said Reynolds. “This is about transparency. It’s about the common-sense idea that a product labeled chicken, beef, or pork, should actually come from an animal.”

Led by Sen. Dawn Driscoll (SD-46) and Rep. Heather Hora (HD-92), the Iowa Meat Integrity Bill not only protects against the misbranding of meat and egg alternatives, but also prohibits supplemental nutrition programs and schools from buying any misbranded protein.

“While lab-grown beef isn’t on the market yet, we know it’s only a matter of time,” said Driscoll. “Lab-grown chicken has already been approved by USDA. Our kids should not be fed science experiments grown in a Petri dish.”

“As a top meat producing state, we needed to take a stand,” said Hora. “Lab-grown products are not the same as the high-quality meat raised by Iowa farm families.”

According a fiscal note, Senate File 2391 establishes regulations regarding fabricated or cultivated food items misbranded as egg or meat products, as well as the purchase and availability cultivated-protein food products in the following ways:

Restricts the sale of food products misbranded as egg or meat products.

Regulates the purchase of cultivated-protein food products and fabricated-egg products by Iowa educational institutions.

Requires the HHS to request a waiver or other exception to exclude the purchase of cultivated-protein food products and fabricated-egg products from eligibility under the federal nutrition program in the State.

Requires the Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing, as the regulatory authority, to inspect a food processing plant or grocery store for compliance based on a credible complaint that food products are misbranded as meat.

Allows a regulatory authority, the Attorney General, or the county attorney in the county where the food product is being offered to issue a stop order or an embargo order.

Establishes relevant definitions, including but not limited to “cultivated-protein food product,” “identifying meat term,” “insect-protein food product,” “fabricated-egg product,” and “identifying egg term.”

This week Reynolds also signed HF 2649, which excludes the net capital gain from the sale of certain livestock from the computation of net income for purposes of the individual income tax into law.

The bill allows a taxpayer to exclude the net capital gain from the sale of cattle or horses if held by the taxpayer for more than 24 months if the taxpayer receives more than 50.0% of gross income from farming or ranching operations during the tax year. It also allows a taxpayer to exclude the net capital gain from the sale of breeding livestock if held by the taxpayer for more than 12 months if the taxpayer receives more than 50.0% of gross income from farming or ranching operations during the tax year. The bill disallows a retired farmer from taking the exclusion if the retired farmer takes a similar exclusion allowed in Iowa Code section 422.7(13).

The tax break is retroactively effective to Jan. 1, 2023, for tax years beginning on or after that date.