A ban on lab-grown meat is no benefit to your health | Opinion

If Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the recently passed bill banning lab-grown meat, the ban will go into effect July 1, 2024. Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave a thumbs-up to cultured meat more than a year ago, the bill’s sponsors held that more research is needed before legalizing sales in Florida.

While questions might linger about cultured meat, they have been decisively answered about the products it replaces. Abundant scientific evidence has shown that slaughtered beef and other meats are not only vectors for salmonella, E.coli, and other infections, but they also contribute to heart disease, colorectal cancer, and other serious health problems. Methane-belching cattle contribute to climate change.

Cultured meat is clearly a step up. It is free of the microbial contaminants that are common in the meat counter. It is also possible to modify its fat and cholesterol content and make it a significantly better choice than meat grown on the hoof. Given that more than 900,000 Floridians had a heart attack in 2020, a lower-cholesterol, lower-fat meat would be welcome indeed. This is especially important for young people. Currently, an estimated 7% of children ages 6 to 19 have high cholesterol levels, something that only worsens as meat-eating children enter adulthood.

People who avoid beef, chicken and other meats have, on average, much healthier body weight, less risk of diabetes, and better overall health. Of course, replacing meat does not require cultured meat. Any self-respecting cook can replace meat chili with bean chili and swap the greasy ground beef Bolognese with a spicy arrabbiata. The range of replacements for animal products is vast and enticing. But cultured meat adds another easy, familiar and healthier option.

Critics say cultured meat is “fake.” But cultured meat is, in fact, meat. Beginning with muscle cells taken from an animal — a process that does not require harm to the animal — the cells are propagated in a sterile environment. Nutrients and protein growth factors are added to foster the growth of animal muscle without the need for any additional animals. That’s good for animals and good for the environment, and, because its nutrient make-up is readily controlled, it is good for health. And that is exactly what has been missing in the cultured meat debate: Never do opponents of cultured meat present even the beginnings of an argument suggesting adverse health effects. In fact, the FDA’s inspections have examined the health issues carefully, giving the products an unequivocal go-ahead.

One suspects that the impending ban on cultured meat has nothing to do with science and all to do with money and politics. To protect one industry, politicians have never hesitated to impede others, and the meat industry has never hesitated to fight back. But it is time to end the argument. Those working in the meat industry are our friends, neighbors and family members. They need healthful foods as much as anyone. Like tobacco farmers before them, they are honest people who got into business before the risks of their products were known. The answer is not to get into a food fight, but rather to work together to retire less-than-healthful products and to market new, innovative foods. If government investment is needed to help farmers transition to a healthier business model, it should be offered. The status quo is not sustainable for anyone.

The Beef Checkoff coined its slogan, “Beef: Real Food for Real People in 1987,” the year before its chief spokesperson, James Garner, underwent quintuple bypass surgery. Decades later, the actor’s illness and ultimate death of cardiovascular disease remains the story of many Americans, showing that, if you are a real person and meat is your idea of real food, you should live real close to a real good hospital. If we were to restrict the sales of any product, that would be a place to start.

Neal Barnard, MD, FACC, is a nutrition researcher and an adjunct professor of medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. Barnard is also the president of the Barnard Medical Center and the nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which has 1,101 physician members in Florida.