Florida bill would make it illegal to sell cell-cultivated meat; Plant-based fillet will go "from raw to cooked"

SeafoodSource is closely following the plant-based and cell-based seafood alternatives market by compiling a regular round-up of updates from the sector.

- Toronto, Canada-based plant-based seafood analog developer New School Foods, Toronto-based fermentation biotechnology company Liven Proteins, and Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada-based NuWave Research have announced a collaboration to develop a whole-cut salmon fillet analog that "transforms from raw to cooked."

"Building on the success of our previous project, which yielded a world-first whole-cut seafood alternative that looks, cooks, tastes, and flakes like salmon, we are excited for this new project to bring this product to market,” New School Foods Founder and CEO Chris Bryson said in a release. 

Protein Industries Canada, an industry-led nonprofit, has invested CAD 4.5 million (USD 3.2 million, EUR 2.9 million) in the project, and the three business partners have each contributed to the CAD 11.4 million (USD 8.2 million, EUR 7.5 million) in total funding the project has received for commercialization.

“In addition to optimizing our novel food processing technology with the support of our consortium partners, we'll be building out our own production assembly line, providing a competitive advantage to fine-tune product quality and optimize costs so that we can create a plant-based alternative built for a wide audience," Bryson said.

- State Representative Tyler Sirois has introduced a proposal to make cultivated meat illegal in the U.S. state of Florida.

“Farming and cattle are incredibly important industries to Florida,” Sirois said. “So I think this is a very relevant discussion for our state to have.”

Claiming cell-cultivated meat is an “affront to nature and creation" and a front in the “ESG agenda” – referencing environmental, social, and corporate governance  – Sirois's legislation would make it a second-degree misdemeanor to sell or distribute any cell-based products, according to Politico.

“I think it raises important ethical concerns about the limitations and boundaries we should place on this type of science,” he said. “I think you could see a very slippery slope here leading to things like cloning, which are very troubling to me.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved cell-cultured animal proteins produced by Berkeley, California, U.S.A.-based UPSIDE Foods and Alameda, CAlifornia-based Good Meat Inc. for human consumption, but cell-cultured proteins are not yet commercially available in the U.S.

Former Florida Senate President and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson said he supports the proposal. 

“Without this legislation, untested, potentially unsafe, and nearly unregulated laboratory-produced meat could be made available in Florida,” Simpson said.

- Gwynn’s Island, Virginia U.S.A.-based Mind Blown Plant-Based Seafood Co. has been awarded the GOLD MarCom Award for its Instagram presence.  

“The glory belongs to Erica Batterman - our amazingly talented marketing and content manager,” Mind Blown Founder Monica Talbert wrote on LinkedIn. “Years of her creativity, consistency, and vision has paid off and has received the recognition it deserves.”

Photo courtesy of Office of Florida State Representative Tyler Sirois