By Julie Tomascik
Editor

Accurate food labels, a priority issue for Texas Farm Bureau this legislative session, is addressed in HB 1788.

The bill, introduced by State Rep. Brad Buckley, pertains to deceptive labeling of food products to influence consumer purchases.

“It’s important to talk about this issue for Texas farmers and ranchers and Texas agriculture,” Buckley said in an interview with the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network. “What we seek to do with our bill is pretty simple—it’s accuracy and truth in labeling so that consumers understand what they are purchasing.”

The bill aims to ensure that food labeled as containing meat products does not falsely or misleadingly include alternative protein sources.

“It’s a bill of definitions. It’s a bill that makes it clear that in Texas, as technology advances and innovation drives the market, that consumers will be able to tell very easily by reading the label exactly what they’re purchasing for themselves and their families,” Buckley said. “It’ll provide a tremendous resource for consumers to understand what they’re purchasing.”

The bill requires “analogue products,” which are food products made from processed plant products, insects or fungus with food additives to mimic meat, poultry or egg products, to have clear labels. The bill would require those products to be labeled with one of the following: to be clearly labeled with one of the following: “analogue; meatless; plant-based; made from plants, or a similar qualifying term.”

One out of every five Texans are deceived by misleading meat substitute food product packaging, according to a statewide survey conducted by TFB and Texas Cattle Feeders Association in 2020.

“That survey was really an eye-opener for me. It really told me that this was legislation that’s good for Texans,” Buckley said. “When folks feel that they’re really not sure what they’re purchasing, that much of the label is ambiguous and not accurate, the time is definitely now for this legislation.”

Confusion at the meat counter is abundant for all consumers. Labels and packaging for meat and “meat alternatives” are often similar and sometimes indistinguishable from each other.

“When I talk to folks from across the spectrum—those who live a vegan lifestyle or vegetarian—they are as in favor of this bill as folks like me who are hardcore carnivores,” Buckley said. “They want to know what they’re purchasing because their lifestyle dictates knowing the food that’s in front of them. This bill does that. This doesn’t pick winners and losers. This bill just promotes accurate and truthful labeling, and then the consumer can make their own decision of what they want to purchase.”

The bill also addresses cell-cultured products, requiring the products to be labeled as either cell-cultured, lab grown or a similar qualifying term.

“As technology evolves and there’s more and more investment in the cell-cultured food space, it’s more important than ever that we make sure consumers understand just how that protein, if you will, in front of them was derived,” Buckley said.

A companion bill, SB 664 by Sen. Charles Perry, was introduced in the Senate.

More information on TFB priority issues is available each week in the Austin Newsletter. To sign up for the Austin Newsletter, log in to MyTFB and update contact preferences using the menu on the left side of the screen.