Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is back talking with National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s CEO, Colin Woodall, about cell-based proteins.
Our coverage from the 2023 Cattle Industry Summer Business Meeting in San Diego is being powered by Farm Data Services of Stillwater.
“This is not necessarily about being afraid of cell-based protein, but it is making sure they have to follow the same rules we do,” Woodall said. “That is why the announcement from USDA, that a certificate of inspection had been provided for this cell-based chicken product, was actually a win for us.”
Woodall said FDA is the company that these cell-based protein-producing entities wanted to be inspected by. Click here for an Associated Press story on the two companies that are producing the cell based chicken products that are now available on a very limited basis.
“If you are a food manufacturer that has FDA inspection, you might be inspected once a week or maybe once a year based upon your risk assessment,” Woodall said. “That is unacceptable for somebody that is going to be in supposedly the meat or protein business because we have to be inspected every single day.”
Now, Woodall said NCBA’s focus is making sure the label is clear to the consumer on what they are actually buying. Clear labeling might include verbiage such as “lab-grown,” “synthetic,” and “cell-cultured,” Woodall added.
“We have to be very careful here that whatever we come up with, there is not a loophole, like so many times you find in federal regulations, that they can circumvent it and come up with something like ‘slaughter-free beef,’” Woodall said. “That just makes things even harder.”
Woodall made sure to emphasize that NCBA is not slamming cell-based products on the market but instead is concerned with confusion about the labeling aspect when it comes to customers who may be looking to purchase beef.
After all, Woodall said, because of beef’s unique and competitive taste, demand remains high.
“If we are out there saying that some product shouldn’t be on the shelf, that same tactic could be used against us in the future by a lot of the groups we just talked about,” Woodall said. “We believe in competition, but that competition has to be on a level playing field. That is why making sure that it is clear what the product is, and making sure they are being inspected the same way we are, provides that competition.”
Woodall said the introduction of cell-based proteins on the market gives the beef industry a great opportunity to showcase all of the great attributes of beef the way God intended it.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
