II 118th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 3281 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES November 9, 2023 Mrs. Fischer introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 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. Short title This Act may be cited as the Real Marketing Edible Artificials Truthfully Act of 2023 or the Real MEAT Act of 2023 . 2. 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. 21 343–3) the following: 403D. Labeling of imitation meat products (a) In general Notwithstanding section 101.3(e) of title 21, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulations), without respect to the relative nutritional value of the food, any imitation meat food product; imitation beef, pork, or poultry; or imitation beef product, pork product, or poultry product shall be deemed to be misbranded unless its label bears, in type of uniform size and prominence, the word imitation immediately before or after the name of the food and a statement that clearly indicates the product is not derived from, or does not contain, meat. (b) Coordination with Secretary of Agriculture (1) Notification of misbranding If the Secretary determines that food is misbranded under subsection (a), the Secretary shall, within 60 days of such determination, transmit a notice of such determination to the Secretary of Agriculture. (2) Enforcement failure If the Secretary fails, within 30 days of transmitting a notice under paragraph (1), to initiate an enforcement action with respect to the food that is the subject of such notice, the Secretary of Agriculture may treat each such determination of misbranding under subsection (a) with respect to the food as a determination 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 with respect to a food subject to subsection (a). (d) Definition In this section: (1) The term beef or beef product means any food containing edible meat tissue from domesticated Bos indicus or Bos taurus cattle. (2) The term domesticated bird means a domesticated chicken, turkey, duck, goose, ratite, or squab. (3) The term imitation beef means any food manufactured to appear as beef or any food that approximates the aesthetic qualities (primarily texture, flavor, and appearance) or the chemical characteristics of specific types of beef but does not contain any meat, meat food product, or meat byproduct ingredients. (4) The term imitation pork product means any food manufactured to appear as a pork product or any food that approximates the aesthetic qualities (primarily texture, flavor, and appearance) or the chemical characteristics of specific types of pork products but does not contain any meat, meat food product, or meat byproduct ingredients. (5) The term imitation poultry product means any food manufactured to appear as a poultry product or any food that approximates the aesthetic qualities (primarily texture, flavor, and appearance) or the chemical characteristics of specific types of poultry products but does not contain any meat, meat food product, or meat byproduct ingredients. (6) The term imitation meat food product means any food manufactured to appear as a meat food product or any food that approximates the aesthetic qualities (primarily texture, flavor, and appearance) or chemical characteristics of specific types of meat but that does not contain any meat, meat food product, or meat byproduct ingredients, and which is not harvested in a traditional manner. (7) The term meat has the meaning given such term for purposes of the Federal Meat Inspection Act. (8) The term meat byproduct has the meaning given such term for purposes of the Federal Meat Inspection Act. (9) The term meat food product has the meaning given the term in section 1 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act. (10) The term pork or pork product means any food produced or processed in whole or in part from a domesticated porcine animal. (11) The term poultry or poultry product means any carcass, or part thereof, of a domesticated bird, or any product that is made wholly or in part from any domesticated bird carcass or part thereof. .