A bipartisan group of US House and Senate members has reintroduced legislation that would impose federal labeling requirements on plant-based and cell-cultivated protein products, building on an earlier version of the same bill that circulated in 2024.
The Fair and Accurate Ingredient Representation on Labels Act, known as the FAIR Labels Act of 2026, was introduced in the House on April 30 by Representatives Mark Alford, Mike Flood, and Buddy Carter. Senate companions were filed by Pete Ricketts and John Fetterman.
What the 2026 bill would require
The updated legislation would amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act to bring cell-cultivated and plant-based products under the same labeling jurisdiction as conventional meat. Cell-cultivated products would be required to display the term “cell-cultivated” prominently and immediately adjacent to the product name, along with a disclaimer that the product does not contain naturally produced meat from a live animal. Plant-based products would need to carry the full phrase “plant-based alternative protein product” on their label, with a similar disclaimer.
The bill specifies which label formats would be permitted and which would not. “Cell-cultivated protein burger” and “ground plant-based alternative protein” would be acceptable; “cultivated beef burgers” and “plant-based ground beef” would be prohibited.
The 2026 version also updates the regulatory framework, revising the 2019 FDA-USDA memorandum of understanding on cell-cultivated food oversight. Under the proposed structure, the FDA would retain responsibility for premarket consultation, cell bank oversight, and facility compliance, while the USDA would handle labeling enforcement.
Cattle industry backs the bill
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association again supports the bill. President Gene Copenhaver stated: “For far too long, lab-grown protein companies have exploited the use of terms like ‘meat’ and ‘beef’ to describe their products, creating the potential for consumer confusion through misleading marketing.”
Senator Fetterman, one of the few Democrats co-sponsoring the legislation, offered blunter language: “The hardworking farmers in Pennsylvania and across our country that feed all of us with real ingredients have to unfairly compete with misleading labels of alternative meats.”
“With clear federal labeling rules already in place, consumers know exactly what they’re buying”
Critics of similar state-level legislation have consistently challenged the premise that current labeling causes consumer confusion. When Virginia introduced comparable restrictions earlier this year, the Good Food Institute pushed back directly, with VP of Policy Pepin Andrew Tuma arguing that cultivated and plant-based products are already subject to rigorous federal oversight and that existing labeling rules give consumers sufficient clarity. “With clear federal labeling rules already in place, consumers know exactly what they’re buying,” he said.
That argument is likely to resurface as this bill advances. The legislation has been referred to the House Committees on Agriculture and Energy and Commerce and has not yet been scheduled for hearings.
