Real MEAT Act of 2019

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. Short title This Act may be cited as the Real Marketing Edible Artificials Truthfully Act of 2019 Real MEAT Act of 2019 2. Findings The Congress finds the following: (1) Traditionally, food standards of identity and composition have provided a framework for identifying products and helping to ensure these products meet consumer expectations regarding composition and characteristics, as well as safety. (2) The legislative intent of standards of identity is to ensure product integrity and prevent economic adulteration. Both consumers and industry have relied on the current system of standards since the enactment in 1938 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (in this section referred to as the FFDCA (3) The Federal Meat Inspection Act (in this section referred to as the FMIA USDA (4) Section 1002 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act ( 21 U.S.C. 392 FDA (5) Both USDA and FDA are responsible for enforcing a universal standard that labels are truthful and not misleading. (6) Several applicable terms are defined in law or regulation including— (A) the term meat food product 21 U.S.C. 601 (B) the terms meat meat broker meat byproduct (C) the term beef 7 U.S.C. 2902 (D) the term beef products 7 U.S.C. 2902 (7) The definitions of beef beef products (8) The lack of any Federal definition of beef beef products (9) Imitation products labeled as beef or as beef products create confusion in the marketplace. These products are in direct violation of the Congressional Findings and Declaration of Policy 7 U.S.C. 2901 3. Labeling of imitation meat products The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act is amended by inserting after section 403C of such Act ( 21 U.S.C. 343–3 403D. Labeling of imitation meat products (a) In general Notwithstanding the provision of section 403(c), any imitation meat food product, beef, or beef product shall be deemed to be misbranded unless its label bears, in type of uniform size and prominence, the word imitation (b) Coordination with secretary of agriculture (1) Notification of misbranding If the Secretary of Health and Human Services finds that food is misbranded under subsection (a), the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall within 60 days of such finding transmit a notice of such finding to the Secretary of Agriculture. (2) Enforcement failure If the Secretary of Health and Human Services fails, within 30 days of transmitting a notice under paragraph (1), to initiate an enforcement action, the Secretary of Agriculture may treat each such finding of misbranding under subsection (a) of this Act as a finding of misbranding under section 1(n) of the Federal Meat Inspection Act. (c) Rule of construction This section shall not be construed as limiting the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture to take enforcement or other action under the Federal Meat Inspection Act or other applicable law. (d) Definition In this section: (1) The term beef beef product (2) The term imitation meat food product (3) The term meat (4) The term meat food product .

Summary: Real Marketing Edible Artificials Truthfully Act of 2019 or the Real MEAT Act of 2019 This bill prohibits the sale of any imitation meat food product unless its label includes (1) the word imitation, and (2) a statement that clearly indicates the product is not derived from or does not contain meat.