Seven groups that represent meat and poultry producers, as well as processors, wrote a letter to President Trump asking him to place cell-cultured protein products under USDA regulation.
The meat industry website Meating Place Dot Com says the groups want these products held to the same high standards for food safety and labeling that meat and poultry are held to under the USDA regulatory system.
In the letter, the groups say, “Cell-cultured products that purport to be meat or poultry should be subject to the same comprehensive inspection system that governs amenable meat and poultry products to ensure that they are wholesome and safe for public consumption.”
The groups also want the products regulated in a way that ensures they are labeled and marketed in a manner that levels the playing field in the marketplace.
The groups also say that the Food and Drug Administration tried to assert itself as the primary regulator of cell-cultured products at a public meeting the USDA was excluded from.
The groups say that is inconsistent with meat and poultry inspection statutes, as well as a White House Agency reorganization plan that consolidates food safety inspection duties into a single USDA agency.
