A bill that was passed in May and went into effect on Tuesday prohibits companies from “misrepresenting a product as meat that is not derived from harvested production livestock or poultry.”
But proponents of plant-based products aren’t letting this go without a fight. Four organizations sued the state of Missouri on Monday, seeking an injunction preventing the law from being enforced. That set off a legal battle in which both sides say they are looking out for baffled consumers who want to know what exactly has gone into their burger, hot dog or chicken.
The office of Missouri’s attorney general said in a statement on Tuesday that “it would seek to defend the constitutionality of state statutes.”
The four organizations that sued the state, Tofurky, the Good Food Institute, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri and the Animal Legal Defense Fund, accuse it of stifling competition from producers in the fast-growing industry of plant-based protein products.
