I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4881 

To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to ensure that consumers can make informed decisions in choosing between meat products 

such as beef and imitation meat products, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 28, 2019 

Mr. MARSHALL (for himself and Mr. BRINDISI) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in 

addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently 

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to 

ensure that consumers can make informed decisions in 

choosing between meat products such as beef and imitation meat products, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Real Marketing Edible 

5 Artificials Truthfully Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘Real MEAT 

6 Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Traditionally, food standards of identity and 

4 composition have provided a framework for identi5 fying products and helping to ensure these products 

6 meet consumer expectations regarding composition 

7 and characteristics, as well as safety. 

8 (2) The legislative intent of standards of iden9 tity is to ensure product integrity and prevent eco10 nomic adulteration. Both consumers and industry 

11 have relied on the current system of standards since 

12 the enactment in 1938 of the Federal Food, Drug, 

13 and Cosmetic Act (in this section referred to as the 

14 ‘‘FFDCA’’) (52 Stat. 1040). 

15 (3) The Federal Meat Inspection Act (in this 

16 section referred to as the ‘‘FMIA’’) grants the De17 partment of Agriculture (in this section referred to 

18 as the ‘‘USDA’’) sole regulatory authority over all 

19 meat and meat food products. 

20 (4) Section 1002 of the Federal Food, Drug, 

21 and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 392) limits the regu22 latory authority of the Food and Drug Administra23 tion (in this section referred to as the ‘‘FDA’’) to 

24 all meat and meat food products not otherwise regu25 lated by the USDA under the Federal Meat InspecVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4881.IH H4881

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1 tion Act, Poultry Products Inspection Act, or the 

2 Egg Products Inspection Act. 

3 (5) Both USDA and FDA are responsible for 

4 enforcing a universal standard that labels are truth5 ful and not misleading. 

6 (6) Several applicable terms are defined in law 

7 or regulation including— 

8 (A) the term ‘‘meat food product’’ defined 

9 in section 1 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act 

10 (21 U.S.C. 601); 

11 (B) the terms ‘‘meat’’, ‘‘meat broker’’, and 

12 ‘‘meat byproduct’’ defined in section 301.2 of 

13 17 title 9, Code of Federal Regulations; 

14 (C) the term ‘‘beef’’ defined as the flesh of 

15 cattle in section 3 of the Beef Research and In16 formation Act (7 U.S.C. 2902); and 

17 (D) the term ‘‘beef products’’ defined as 

18 edible products produced in whole or in part 

19 from beef, exclusive of milk and milk products 

20 produced therefrom, in such section 3 (7 U.S.C. 

21 2902). 

22 (7) The definitions of ‘‘beef’’ and ‘‘beef prod23 ucts’’ were established under the Beef Research and 

24 Information Act for the purpose of strengthening 

25 the beef industry’s position in the marketplace and 


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1 to maintain and expand domestic and foreign mar2 kets and uses for beef and beef products only. 

3 (8) The lack of any Federal definition of ‘‘beef’’ 

4 or ‘‘beef products’’ for the purposes of meat food 

5 product labeling has led some to begin marketing 

6 imitation products as meat or beef, creating the op7 portunity for marketplace confusion and consumer 

8 fraud that Congress originally charged the various 

9 Federal food regulatory agencies with the duty to 

10 prevent. 

11 (9) Imitation products labeled as beef or as beef 

12 products create confusion in the marketplace. These 

13 products are in direct violation of the ‘‘Congressional 

14 Findings and Declaration of Policy’’ authorized 

15 under section 2 of the Beef Research and Informa16 tion Act (7 U.S.C. 2901) and undermine the integ17 rity of that Act. 

18 SEC. 3. LABELING OF IMITATION MEAT PRODUCTS. 

19 The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act is amend20 ed by inserting after section 403C of such Act (21 U.S.C. 

21 343–3) the following: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 403D. LABELING OF IMITATION MEAT PRODUCTS. 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the provision of 

24 section 403(c), any imitation meat food product, beef, or 

25 beef product shall be deemed to be misbranded unless its 


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1 label bears, in type of uniform size and prominence, the 

2 word ‘imitation’ immediately before or after the name of 

3 the food and a statement that clearly indicates the product 

4 is not derived from or does not contain meat. 

5 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION WITH SECRETARY OF AGRI6 CULTURE.— 

7 ‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION OF MISBRANDING.—If the 

8 Secretary of Health and Human Services finds that 

9 food is misbranded under subsection (a), the Sec10 retary of Health and Human Services shall within 

11 60 days of such finding transmit a notice of such 

12 finding to the Secretary of Agriculture. 

13 ‘‘(2) ENFORCEMENT FAILURE.—If the Sec14 retary of Health and Human Services fails, within 

15 30 days of transmitting a notice under paragraph 

16 (1), to initiate an enforcement action, the Secretary 

17 of Agriculture may treat each such finding of mis18 branding under subsection (a) of this Act as a find19 ing of misbranding under section 1(n) of the Federal 

20 Meat Inspection Act. 

21 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This section shall 

22 not be construed as limiting the authority of the Secretary 

23 of Agriculture to take enforcement or other action under 

24 the Federal Meat Inspection Act or other applicable law. 

25 ‘‘(d) DEFINITION.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) The term ‘beef’ or ‘beef product’ means 

2 any product containing edible meat tissue harvested 

3 in whole form from domesticated Bos indicus or Bos 

4 taurus cattle. 

5 ‘‘(2) The term ‘imitation meat food product’ is 

6 any product manufactured to appear as a meat food 

7 product or any food product which approximates the 

8 aesthetic qualities (primarily texture, flavor, and ap9 pearance) and/or chemical characteristics of specific 

10 types of meat but does not contain any meat, meat 

11 food product, or meat byproduct ingredients. 

12 ‘‘(3) The term ‘meat’ means meat as such term 

13 is used in the Federal Meat Inspection Act. 

14 ‘‘(4) The term ‘meat food product’ has the 

15 meaning given to that term in section 1 of the Fed16 eral Meat Inspection Act.’’. 

Æ 


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