Senate Engrossed House Bill

 

misbranding; misrepresenting; food products

(now:  misrepresenting; food products)

 

 

 

 

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-sixth Legislature

Second Regular Session

2024

 

 

 

HOUSE BILL 2244

 

 

 

 

An Act

 

amending title 36, chapter 8, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 36-917; relating to pure food control.

 

 

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

 


Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Title 36, chapter 8, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 36-917, to read:

START_STATUTE36-917. Products not derived from slaughter; misrepresenting as fish, meat or poultry; prohibition; violation; civil penalty; definitions

A. A person who places a label on a food product may not intentionally misrepresent a product that is not derived from The slaughter or killing of an animal as meat, a meat food product, fish, a fish PRODUCT, poultry, a poultry product or any other animal food product through any activity, including intentionally misrepresenting by doing any of the following:

1. Affixing a false or misleading label on meat, a meat food product, fish, a fish PRODUCT, poultry, a poultry product or any other animal food PRODUCT.

2. Using a term that is the same as or deceptively similar to a term that has been used or defined historically in reference to a specific meat food product, fish product, poultry product or other animal food product with the intent to misrepresent the product.

3. If a cell-cultured food product, Representing the product as meat, a meat food product, fish, a fish PRODUCT, poultry, a poultry product or any other animal food PRODUCT or its species-specific equivalent without disclosing that the product is a cell-cultured food product in terms that are of similAR prominence and in CLOSE PROXIMITY TO the representations as meat, a meat food PRODUCT, fish, a fish product, poultry, a poultry PRODUCT or any other animal food product on all labels where such representations appear.

4. If a synthetic food product derived from a plant, insect or other SOURCE, Representing the product as meat, a meat food product, fish, a fish PRODUCT, poultry, a poultry product or any other animal food PRODUCT or its species-specific equivalent without disclosing that the product is DERIVED from a plant, an insect or any other source product in terms that are of SIMILAR prominence and in CLOSE PROXIMITY TO the REPRESENTATIONS as meat, a meat food PRODUCT, fish, a fish product, poultry, a poultry PRODUCT or any other animal food product on all labels where such representations appear.

B. The department may do any of the following:

1. Adopt rules to enforce this section.

2. Receive complaints and investigate violations of this section.

3. Employ personnel to investigate and enforce this section or delegate investigation and enforcement authority to county health departments or the weights and measures services division of the Arizona department of agriculture.

4. Seek and obtain injunctive relief or other civil relief to restrain and prevent violations of this section and rules adopted pursuant to this section.

5. After a hearing, impose a civil penalty of not more than $100,000 for each violation of this section.  Each day a violation occurs is a separate offense.

c. This section does not PROHIBIT a person from representing a cell-CULTURED food product as any of the following terms or their species-SPECIFIC EQUIVALENTS:

1. CELL-CULTURED MEAT, FISH, POULTRY OR ANIMAL FOOD PRODUCT.

2. LAB-GROWN MEAT, FISH, POULTRY OR ANIMAL FOOD PRODUCT.

3. CELL-BASED MEAT, FISH, POULTRY OR ANIMAL FOOD PRODUCT.

4. SYNTHETIC MEAT, FISH, POULTRY OR ANIMAL FOOD PRODUCT.

5. BIOFABRICATED MEAT, FISH, POULTRY OR ANIMAL FOOD PRODUCT.

6. cell-Cultivated meat, FISH, poultry or animal food product.

D. This section does not prohibit a person from using any of the following terms or comparable words or phrases to describe a synthetic food product derived from a plant:

1. Plant food product.

2. Plant-based food product.

3. Vegan food product.

4. Vegetable food product.

5. Vegetable-based food product.

6. Vegetarian food product.

7. Veggie food product.

e. This section does not prohibit a person from using or AFFIXING TERMS used or historically defined to reference a specific meat or meat food PRODUCT, poultry or poultry PRODUCT or fish or fish product on such a product.

f. This section DOES NOT PROHIBIT A PERSON FROM USING a word or term for the purposes of communicating a brand name, slogan, trademark or trade name in a manner that is not intentionally false, misleading or deceptive.

g. For the purposes of this section:

1. "animal" means livestock, POULTRY, fish, big game, small game or any other species of ANIMAL.

2. "ANIMAL FOOD PRODUCT":

(a) MEANS aNY ARTICLE OF FOOD OR ANY ARTICLE INTENDED FOR OR CAPABLE OF BEING USED AS HUMAN FOOD that IS DERIVED OR PREPARED, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, FROM THE SLAUGHTER OR KILLING OF AN ANIMAL.

(b) Does not include an animal byPRODUCT that is used ONLY FOR MEDICINAL PURPOSES AND ADVERTISED ONLY TO MEDICAL PROFESSIONals.

3. "BIG GAME" HAS THE SAME MEANING PRESCRIBED IN SECTION 17-101.

4. "Cell-Cultured food product" means any cultured animal tissue that is produced from in vitro animal cell cultures outside of the organism from which it is derived.

5. "Deceptively similar" means misleading to a reasonable person.

6. "Department" means the department of health services.

7. "fish" means fresh or saltwater finfish, crustaceans and other forms of aquatic animal life, including alligator, frog, aquatic turtle, jellyfish, sea cucumber, sea urchin, roe of any fish and mollusks, intended for human consumption.

8. "Fish product" means any human food product in which fish is a characterizing ingredient.

9. "Livestock" has the same meaning prescribed in section 3-1201.

10. "Meat" has the same meaning prescribed in section 3-2001.

11. "Meat food product" has the same meaning prescribed in section 3-2001.

12. "Misrepresent" means to use any untrue, misleading or deceptive label, INCLUDING any WRITTEN or PRINTED material that accompanies a food PRODUCT at the point of sale.

13. "Poultry" has the same meaning prescribed in section 3-2151.

14. "Poultry product" has the same meaning prescribed in section 3-2151.

15. "Slaughter":

(a) Has the same meaning prescribed in section 3-2001.

(b) Includes the killing and preparation of any other animal for human consumption.

16. "Small game" has the same meaning prescribed in section 17-101.END_STATUTE