Real MEAT Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4881 To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to ensure that con- sumers 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 provi- sions 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 imita- tion meat products, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Real Marketing Edible 4 Artificials Truthfully Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘Real MEAT 5 Act of 2019’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4881.IH H4881 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4881 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 The Congress finds the following: 2 (1) Traditionally, food standards of identity and 3 composition have provided a framework for identi- 4 fying products and helping to ensure these products 5 meet consumer expectations regarding composition 6 and characteristics, as well as safety. 7 (2) The legislative intent of standards of iden- 8 tity is to ensure product integrity and prevent eco- 9 nomic adulteration. Both consumers and industry 10 have relied on the current system of standards since 11 the enactment in 1938 of the Federal Food, Drug, 12 and Cosmetic Act (in this section referred to as the 13 ‘‘FFDCA’’) (52 Stat. 1040). 14 (3) The Federal Meat Inspection Act (in this 15 section referred to as the ‘‘FMIA’’) grants the De- 16 partment of Agriculture (in this section referred to 17 as the ‘‘USDA’’) sole regulatory authority over all 18 meat and meat food products. 19 (4) Section 1002 of the Federal Food, Drug, 20 and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 392) limits the regu- 21 latory authority of the Food and Drug Administra- 22 tion (in this section referred to as the ‘‘FDA’’) to 23 all meat and meat food products not otherwise regu- 24 lated by the USDA under the Federal Meat Inspec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4881.IH H4881 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4881 IH tion Act, Poultry Products Inspection Act, or the 1 Egg Products Inspection Act. 2 (5) Both USDA and FDA are responsible for 3 enforcing a universal standard that labels are truth- 4 ful and not misleading. 5 (6) Several applicable terms are defined in law 6 or regulation including— 7 (A) the term ‘‘meat food product’’ defined 8 in section 1 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act 9 (21 U.S.C. 601); 10 (B) the terms ‘‘meat’’, ‘‘meat broker’’, and 11 ‘‘meat byproduct’’ defined in section 301.2 of 12 17 title 9, Code of Federal Regulations; 13 (C) the term ‘‘beef’’ defined as the flesh of 14 cattle in section 3 of the Beef Research and In- 15 formation Act (7 U.S.C. 2902); and 16 (D) the term ‘‘beef products’’ defined as 17 edible products produced in whole or in part 18 from beef, exclusive of milk and milk products 19 produced therefrom, in such section 3 (7 U.S.C. 20 2902). 21 (7) The definitions of ‘‘beef’’ and ‘‘beef prod- 22 ucts’’ were established under the Beef Research and 23 Information Act for the purpose of strengthening 24 the beef industry’s position in the marketplace and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4881.IH H4881 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4881 IH to maintain and expand domestic and foreign mar- 1 kets and uses for beef and beef products only. 2 (8) The lack of any Federal definition of ‘‘beef’’ 3 or ‘‘beef products’’ for the purposes of meat food 4 product labeling has led some to begin marketing 5 imitation products as meat or beef, creating the op- 6 portunity for marketplace confusion and consumer 7 fraud that Congress originally charged the various 8 Federal food regulatory agencies with the duty to 9 prevent. 10 (9) Imitation products labeled as beef or as beef 11 products create confusion in the marketplace. These 12 products are in direct violation of the ‘‘Congressional 13 Findings and Declaration of Policy’’ authorized 14 under section 2 of the Beef Research and Informa- 15 tion Act (7 U.S.C. 2901) and undermine the integ- 16 rity of that Act. 17 SEC. 3. LABELING OF IMITATION MEAT PRODUCTS. 18 The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act is amend- 19 ed by inserting after section 403C of such Act (21 U.S.C. 20 343–3) the following: 21 ‘‘SEC. 403D. LABELING OF IMITATION MEAT PRODUCTS. 22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the provision of 23 section 403(c), any imitation meat food product, beef, or 24 beef product shall be deemed to be misbranded unless its 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4881.IH H4881 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4881 IH label bears, in type of uniform size and prominence, the 1 word ‘imitation’ immediately before or after the name of 2 the food and a statement that clearly indicates the product 3 is not derived from or does not contain meat. 4 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION WITH SECRETARY OF AGRI- 5 CULTURE.— 6 ‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION OF MISBRANDING.—If the 7 Secretary of Health and Human Services finds that 8 food is misbranded under subsection (a), the Sec- 9 retary of Health and Human Services shall within 10 60 days of such finding transmit a notice of such 11 finding to the Secretary of Agriculture. 12 ‘‘(2) ENFORCEMENT FAILURE.—If the Sec- 13 retary of Health and Human Services fails, within 14 30 days of transmitting a notice under paragraph 15 (1), to initiate an enforcement action, the Secretary 16 of Agriculture may treat each such finding of mis- 17 branding under subsection (a) of this Act as a find- 18 ing of misbranding under section 1(n) of the Federal 19 Meat Inspection Act. 20 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This section shall 21 not be construed as limiting the authority of the Secretary 22 of Agriculture to take enforcement or other action under 23 the Federal Meat Inspection Act or other applicable law. 24 ‘‘(d) DEFINITION.—In this section: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4881.IH H4881 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4881 IH ‘‘(1) The term ‘beef’ or ‘beef product’ means 1 any product containing edible meat tissue harvested 2 in whole form from domesticated Bos indicus or Bos 3 taurus cattle. 4 ‘‘(2) The term ‘imitation meat food product’ is 5 any product manufactured to appear as a meat food 6 product or any food product which approximates the 7 aesthetic qualities (primarily texture, flavor, and ap- 8 pearance) and/or chemical characteristics of specific 9 types of meat but does not contain any meat, meat 10 food product, or meat byproduct ingredients. 11 ‘‘(3) The term ‘meat’ means meat as such term 12 is used in the Federal Meat Inspection Act. 13 ‘‘(4) The term ‘meat food product’ has the 14 meaning given to that term in section 1 of the Fed- 15 eral Meat Inspection Act.’’. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4881.IH H4881 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS