Johnson Supports Real MEAT Bill to Fight Imitation Meat Labeling  

Pat Powers

Johnson Supports Real MEAT Bill to Fight Imitation Meat Labeling  

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) cosponsored the Real Marketing Edible Artificials Truthfully (MEAT) Act of 2019, to address imitation meat and to establish a federal definition of beef that applies to food labels.

“A plant-based creation isn’t the same as South Dakota beef,” said Rep. Johnson. “It’s to the benefit of consumers and producers alike when folks have a better understanding of where their food comes from—the Real MEAT Act would provide the transparency Americans deserve.”

The Real MEAT Act would bolster misbranding provisions to prevent consumer confusion and provide tools to better enforce the law. This legislation was introduced by Rep. Marshall (R-KS) and Rep. Brindisi (D-NY).

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8 thoughts on “Johnson Supports Real MEAT Bill to Fight Imitation Meat Labeling  ”

  2. there is literally no claim that it is “beef” currently. They specifically have “plant-based” on the packaging. How about we start working on actual issues instead of stupid things like this.

  3. Is there anybody who is actually trying to pawn off plant based food as beef? I know there are some items that claim they taste like real beef, but I thought being plant based was its charm.

  4. Seriously, we need a federal definition of “beef”? Are Americans on the east and lefty coast that stupid?

    Got, it: Made solely from dead cows, steers, and bulls.

    Dang, I’m getting hungry!

  5. Ask the dairy industry how they feel about almond, soy, coconut, hemp “milk” lol. This is an important issue to ranchers.

    1. And that’s why the obvious dishonesty in saying this sort of law is about “preventing confusion” bothers me. Nobody buys soy milk or rice milk because they mistakenly think it came from a cow, they buy it on purpose because they know it didn’t come from a cow. And ranchers don’t like that and want to drive the non-cow products out of the market, which makes sense, nobody likes competition. This sort of law’s about helping them do that – and I can’t blame Johnson for wanting to do that, there’s more people in South Dakota who make their living from beef than from Soybeef or whatever it’s called. But be honest about it, man. Don’t tell me an obvious lie, it insults my intelligence and it makes me angry.

      1. That’s fair. People might not be confused about the product they are buying but there has been confusion on the nutrition of the product. Plant-based protein tries to sound like they are healthier than beef…… maybe that’s what he means? It’s all about the marketing (for Dusty, for Beef, for soy) they are all just trying to sell their product at the end of the day.

  6. Jess nailed the issue.
    Using the word “beef” or “milk” when not from a cow implies it is at least partially the equivalent or a similar substitute for the real thing.

    In both cases, this “trading” the reputation of beef and milk is less than honest.

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