Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 138 (2025GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Walter, R. Neil

Final action

Governor Signed 3/19/2025

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Spencer J. Cox

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• defines terms;
• requires labeling of food containing cultivated meat products;
• requires labeling of food containing plant or insect based meat substitutes;
• provides for notification, inspections, and the payment of a fee related to cultivated meat products and plant or insect based meat substitutes;
• addresses rulemaking; and
• makes technical and conforming amendments.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

8
4-5-102
4-5-201
4-5-301
4-5a-103
4-5-102
4-5-201
4-5-301
4-5a-103
0
Food Labeling Amendments
2025 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: R. Neil Walter
Senate Sponsor: Derrin R. Owens
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill addresses labeling of meat type products.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
defines terms;
requires labeling of food containing cultivated meat products;
requires labeling of food containing plant or insect based meat substitutes; 
provides for notification, inspections, and the payment of a fee related to cultivated meat 
products and plant or insect based meat substitutes; 
addresses rulemaking; and
makes technical and conforming amendments.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
4-5-102
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2023, Chapter 528
4-5-201
, as renumbered and amended by Laws of Utah 2017, Chapter 345
4-5-301
, as renumbered and amended by Laws of Utah 2017, Chapter 345
4-5a-103
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2023, Chapter 362
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1, Section 
4-5-102
 is amended to read:
4-5-102
. Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(1)
"Advertisement" means a representation, other than by labeling, made to induce the 
purchase of food.
(2)
(a)
"Color additive":
(i)
means a dye, pigment, or other substance not exempted under the federal act that, 
when added or applied to a food, is capable of imparting color; and
(ii)
includes black, white, and intermediate grays.
(b)
"Color additive" does not include a pesticide chemical, soil or plant nutrient, or other 
agricultural chemical that imparts color solely because of the chemical's effect, 
before or after harvest, in aiding, retarding, or otherwise affecting, directly or 
indirectly, the growth or other natural physiological process of any plant life.
(3)
(a)
"Consumer commodity" means a food, as defined by this chapter, or by the 
federal act.
(b)
"Consumer commodity" does not include:
(i)
a commodity subject to packaging or labeling requirements imposed under the 
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, 7 U.S.C. Sec. 136 et seq.;
(ii)
a commodity subject to 
Chapter 16, Utah Seed Act
;
(iii)
a meat or meat product subject to the Federal Meat Inspection Act, 21 U.S.C. 
Sec. 601 et seq.;
(iv)
a poultry or poultry product subject to the Poultry Inspection Act, 21 U.S.C. Sec. 
451 et seq.;
(v)
a tobacco or tobacco product; or
(vi)
a beverage subject to or complying with packaging or labeling requirements 
imposed under the Federal Alcohol Administration Act, 27 U.S.C. Sec. 201 et seq.
(4)
"Contaminated" means not securely protected from dust, dirt, or foreign or injurious 
agents.
(5)
(a)
"Cultivated meat product" means a meat, as defined in Section 
4-32-105
, or 
another food or food product that is:
(i)
produced by cultivating or culturing an animal cell in vitro; and
(ii)
used for human consumption.
(b)
"Cultivated meat product" includes poultry, fish, and other livestock, as defined in 
Section 
4-7-103
, that meets the requirements of Subsection (5)(a).
(5)
(6)
(a)
"Farm" means an agricultural operation, under management by one entity, 
that grows or harvests crops.
(b)
"Farm" does not include an entity that is exempt under 21 C.F.R. 112.4(a) or 21 
C.F.R. 112.5.
(6)
(7)
"Farmers market" means a market where a producer of a food product sells only a 
fresh, raw, whole, unprocessed, and unprepared food item directly to the final consumer.
(7)
(8)
"Federal act" means the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. Sec. 301 
et seq.
(8)
(9)
"Food" means:
(a)
an article used for food or drink for human or animal consumption or the components 
of the article;
(b)
chewing gum or chewing gum components; or
(c)
a food supplement for special dietary use that is necessitated because of a physical, 
physiological, pathological, or other condition.
(9)
(10)
(a)
"Food additive" means a substance, the intended use of which results in the 
substance becoming a component, or otherwise affecting the characteristics, of a food.
(b)
(i)
"Food additive" includes a substance or source of radiation intended for use in 
producing, manufacturing, packing, processing, preparing, treating, packaging, 
transporting, or holding food.
(ii)
"Food additive" does not include:
(A)
a pesticide chemical in or on a raw agricultural commodity;
(B)
a pesticide chemical that is intended for use or is used in the production, 
storage, or transportation of a raw agricultural commodity; or
(C)
a substance used in accordance with a sanction or approval granted pursuant 
to the Poultry Products Inspection Act, 21 U.S.C. Sec. 451 et seq. or the 
Federal Meat Inspection Act, 21 U.S.C. Sec. 601 et seq.
(10)
(11)
(a)
"Food establishment" means a grocery store, bakery, candy factory, food 
processor, bottling plant, sugar factory, cannery, farm, rabbit processor, meat 
processor, flour mill, cold or dry warehouse storage, or other facility where food 
products are manufactured, canned, processed, packaged, stored, transported, 
prepared, sold, or offered for sale.
(b)
"Food establishment" does not include:
(i)
a dairy farm, a dairy plant, or a meat establishment, that is subject to the Poultry 
Products Inspection Act, 21 U.S.C. Sec. 451 et seq., or the Federal Meat 
Inspection Act, 21 U.S.C. Sec. 601 et seq.;
(ii)
a farmers market; or
(iii)
a food service establishment, as that term is defined in Section 
26B-7-401
.
(11)
(12)
"Label" means a written, printed, or graphic display on the immediate container 
of an article of food.
(12)
(13)
"Labeling" means a label and other written, printed, or graphic display:
(a)
on an article of food or the article of food's container or wrapper; or
(b)
accompanying the article of food.
(13)
(14)
"Official compendium" means the official documents or supplements to the:
(a)
United States Pharmacopoeia;
(b)
National Formulary; or
(c)
Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States.
(14)
(15)
(a)
"Package" means a container or wrapping in which a consumer commodity 
is enclosed for use in the delivery or display of the consumer commodity to retail 
purchasers.
(b)
"Package" does not include:
(i)
a package liner;
(ii)
a shipping container or wrapping used solely for the transportation of a consumer 
commodity in bulk or in quantity to a manufacturer, packer, processor, or 
wholesale or retail distributor; or
(iii)
a shipping container or outer wrapping used by a retailer to ship or deliver a 
consumer commodity to a retail customer, if the container and wrapping bear no 
printed information relating to the consumer commodity.
(15)
(16)
(a)
"Pesticide" means a substance intended:
(i)
to prevent, destroy, repel, or mitigate a pest, as defined under Section 
4-14-102
; or
(ii)
for use as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant.
(b)
"Pesticide" does not include:
(i)
a new animal drug, as defined by 21 U.S.C. Sec. 321, that has been determined by 
the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services not to be a new animal 
drug by federal regulation establishing conditions of use of the drug; or
(ii)
animal feed, as defined by 21 U.S.C. Sec. 321, bearing or containing a new 
animal drug.
(17)
"Plant or insect based meat substitute" means a food or food product that:
(a)
is plant or insect based;
(b)
approximates the aesthetic qualities, primarily texture, flavor, and appearance, or the 
chemical characteristics of a type of meat, as defined in Section 
4-32-105
, including 
fish; and
(c)
does not include the flesh, offal, or other by-product of any part of the carcass of a 
live animal that has been slaughtered.
(16)
(18)
"Principal display panel" means that part of a label that is most likely to be 
displayed, presented, shown, or examined under normal and customary conditions of 
display for retail sale.
(17)
(19)
"Produce" means a food that is a:
(a)
fruit, vegetable, mix of intact fruits and vegetables, mushroom, sprout from any seed 
source, peanut, tree nut, or herb; and
(b)
raw agricultural commodity.
(18)
(20)
"Raw agricultural commodity" means a food in the food's raw or natural state, 
including all fruits that are washed, colored, or otherwise treated in the fruit's unpeeled, 
natural form before marketing.
(19)
(21)
"Registration" means the commissioner's issuance of a certificate to a qualified 
food establishment.
(20)
(22)
"Sprout" means the shoot of a plant generally harvested when cotyledons are 
undeveloped or underdeveloped and mature leaves have not emerged.
Section 2, Section 
4-5-201
 is amended to read:
4-5-201
. Labeling requirements -- Misbranded food specified.
(1)
The department may require that a label contain specific written, printed, or graphic 
information which is:
(a)
displayed on the outside container or wrapper of a retail package of an article; or
(b)
easily legible through the outside container or wrapper.
(2)
Food is misbranded if:
(a)
its label is false or misleading in any way;
(b)
its labeling or packaging fails to conform with the requirements of Section 
4-5-205
;
(c)
it is offered for sale under the name of another food;
(d)
its container is so made, formed, or filled with packing material or air as to be 
misleading; or
(e)
it fails to conform with any requirement specified in this section.
(3)
(a)
A food that is an imitation of another food shall bear a label, in type of uniform 
size and prominence, stating the word "imitation," and, immediately thereafter, the 
name of the food imitated.
(b)
If the state allows a cultivated meat product to be manufactured, sold, held or offered 
for sale, or distributed, a food that contains the cultivated meat product shall bear a 
term or phrase on a label in a place on the packaging that is reasonably certain to 
notify a consumer that the food contains a cultivated meat product.
(c)
A food that contains a plant or insect based meat substitute:
(i)
is not subject to Subsection 
(3)(a)
; and
(ii)
shall bear a term or phrase on a label in a place on the packaging that is 
reasonably certain to notify a consumer that the food contains a plant or insect 
based meat substitute.
(d)
The department shall interpret and enforce this Subsection 
(3)
 in a manner consistent 
with applicable federal statute and regulations.
(e)
The department may not enforce the requirements of Subsections 
(3)(b)
 and (c) on or 
before October 31, 2025.
(4)
(a)
A food in package form shall bear a label containing:
(i)
the name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor; and
(ii)
an accurate statement of the quantity of the contents in terms of weight, measure, 
or numerical count.
(b)
The statement required by Subsection 
(4)(a)(ii)
 shall be separately and accurately 
stated in a uniform location upon the principal display panel of the label unless 
reasonable variations and exemptions for small packages are established by a rule 
made by the department.
(c)
A manufacturer or distributor of carbonated beverages who utilizes proprietary stock 
or a proprietary crown is exempt from Subsection 
(4)(a)(i)
 if 
he
the manufacturer or 
distributor
 files with the department:
(i)
a sworn affidavit giving a full and complete description of each area within the 
state in which beverages of 
his
the manufacturer's or distributor's
 manufacturing 
or distributing are to be distributed; and
(ii)
the name and address of the person responsible for compliance with this chapter 
within each of those areas.
(5)
Any word, statement, or other information required by this chapter to appear on the 
label or labeling shall be:
(a)
prominently placed on the label;
(b)
conspicuous in comparison with other words, statements, designs, or devices in the 
labeling; and
(c)
in terms which render it likely to be read and understood by the ordinary individual 
under customary conditions of purchase and use.
(6)
If a food is represented as a food for which a definition and standard of identity has 
been prescribed by federal regulations or department rules as provided by Section 
4-5-207
, it shall:
(a)
conform to the definition and standard; and
(b)
have a label bearing:
(i)
the name of the food specified in the definition and standard; and
(ii)
insofar as may be required by the rules, the common names of optional 
ingredients, other than spices, flavorings, and colorings, present in the food.
(7)
If a food is represented as a food for which a standard of quality has been prescribed by 
federal regulations or department rules as provided by Section 
4-5-207
, and its quality 
falls below the standard, its label shall bear, in the manner and form as the regulations or 
rules specify, a statement indicating that it falls below the standards.
(8)
If a food is represented as a food for which a standard of fill of container has been 
prescribed by federal regulations or department rules as provided by Section 
4-5-207
, 
and it falls below the applicable standard of fill, its label shall bear, in the manner and 
form as the regulations or rules specify, a statement indicating that it falls below the 
standard.
(9)
(a)
Any food for which neither a definition nor standard of identity has been 
prescribed by federal regulations or department rules as provided by Section 
4-5-207
shall bear labeling clearly giving:
(i)
the common or usual name of the food, if any; and
(ii)
in case it is fabricated from two or more ingredients, the common or usual name 
of each ingredient, except that spices, flavorings, and colorings, other than those 
sold as such, may be designated as spices, flavorings, and colorings without 
naming each.
(b)
To the extent that compliance with the requirements of Subsection 
(9)(a)(ii)
 is 
impractical or results in deception or unfair competition, exemptions shall be 
established by rules made by the department.
(10)
If a food is represented as a food for special dietary uses, its label shall bear the 
information concerning its vitamin, mineral, and other dietary properties as the 
department by rule prescribes.
(11)
(a)
If a food bears or contains any artificial flavoring, artificial coloring, or chemical 
preservatives, its label shall state that fact.
(b)
If compliance with the requirements of Subsection 
(11)(a)
 is impracticable, 
exemptions shall be established by rules made by the department.
(12)
(a)
The shipping container of any raw agricultural commodity bearing or containing 
a pesticide chemical applied after harvest shall bear labeling which declares the 
presence of the chemical in or on the commodity and the common or usual name and 
function of the chemical.
(b)
The declaration is not required while the commodity, having been removed from the 
shipping container, is being held or displaced for sale at retail out of the container in 
accordance with the custom of the trade.
(13)
A product intended as an ingredient of another food, when used according to the 
directions of the purveyor, may not result in the final food product being adulterated or 
misbranded.
(14)
The packaging and labeling of a color additive shall be in conformity with the 
packaging and labeling requirements applicable to the color additive prescribed under 
the federal act.
(15)
(a)
Subsections 
(6)
, 
(9)
, and 
(11)
 with respect to artificial coloring do not apply to 
butter, cheese, or ice cream.
(b)
Subsection 
(11)
 with respect to chemical preservatives does not apply to a pesticide 
chemical when used in or on a raw agricultural commodity.
Section 3, Section 
4-5-301
 is amended to read:
4-5-301
. Registration of food establishments -- Fee -- Suspension and 
reinstatement of registration -- Inspection for compliance.
(1)
(a)
Pursuant to 
Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act
, the 
department shall 
establish
make
 rules providing for the registration of food 
establishments to protect public health and ensure a safe food supply.
(b)
The owner or operator of a food establishment shall register with the department 
before operating a food establishment.
(c)
Before granting a registration to the owner or operator of a food establishment, the 
department shall inspect and assess the food establishment to determine whether it 
complies with the rules established under Subsection 
(1)(a)
.
(d)
An applicant shall register with the department, in writing, using forms required by 
the department.
(e)
The department shall issue a registration to an applicant, if the department 
determines that the applicant meets the qualifications of registration established 
under Subsection 
(1)(a)
.
(f)
If the applicant does not meet the qualifications of registration, the department shall 
notify the applicant, in writing, that the applicant's registration is denied.
(g)
(i)
If an applicant submits an incomplete application, a written notice of 
conditional denial of registration shall be provided to an applicant.
(ii)
The applicant shall correct the deficiencies within the time period specified in the 
notice to receive a registration.
(h)
(i)
The department may, as provided under Subsection 
4-2-103(2)
, charge the food 
establishment a registration fee.
(ii)
The department shall retain the fees as dedicated credits and shall use the fees to 
administer the registration of food establishments.
(2)
(a)
A registration, issued under this section, shall be valid from the date the 
department issues the registration, to December 31 of the year the registration is 
issued.
(b)
A registration may be renewed for the following year by applying for renewal by 
December 31 of the year the registration expires.
(3)
A registration, issued under this section, shall specify:
(a)
the name and address of the food establishment;
(b)
the name of the owner or operator of the food establishment; and
(c)
the registration issuance and expiration date.
(4)
(a)
The department may immediately suspend a registration, issued under this section, 
if any of the conditions of registration have been violated.
(b)
(i)
The holder of a registration suspended under Subsection 
(4)(a)
 may apply for 
the reinstatement of a registration.
(ii)
If the department determines that all registration requirements have been met, the 
department shall reinstate the registration.
(5)
(a)
A food establishment, registered under this section, shall allow the department to 
have access to the food establishment to determine if the food establishment is 
complying with the registration requirements.
(b)
If a food establishment denies access for an inspection required under Subsection 
(5)(a)
, the department may suspend the food establishment's registration until the 
department is allowed access to the food establishment's premises.
(6)
(a)
A food establishment shall:
(i)
notify the department as part of the registration or renewal process whether the 
food establishment plans to sell, hold or offer for sale, or distribute a cultivated 
meat product or a plant or insect based meat substitute;
(ii)
permit the department to inspect for compliance with Subsection 
4-5-201(3)
; and
(iii)
pay a fee established in accordance with Subsection 
4-2-103(2)
.
(b)
The department shall retain the fee as a dedicated credit and shall use the fee to 
administer Subsection 
4-5-201(3)
.
(c)
Pursuant to Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, the 
department may make rules to address notification, inspection, and payment of fees 
under this Subsection 
(6)
.
Section 4, Section 
4-5a-103
 is amended to read:
4-5a-103
. Regulation of a direct-to-sale farmers market.
(1)
Except as provided in Subsection 
(4)
, a direct-to-sale farmers market selling homemade 
food under this chapter shall:
(a)
display signage indicating to an informed final consumer that the homemade food 
and food products sold by producers at the market have not been certified, licensed, 
regulated, or inspected by state or local authorities; and
(b)
only include products for sale that have not been certified, licensed, regulated, or 
inspected by state or local authorities.
(2)
If the direct-to-sale farmers market is in any way associated with a farmers market as 
defined in 
Subsection 
4-5-102(6)
Section 
4-5-102
, the direct-to-sale farmers market 
section selling homemade food under this chapter shall comply with the following 
requirements:
(a)
the direct-to-sale farmers market section shall be separated from the farmers market 
section; and
(b)
the separate direct-to-sale farmers market section shall include signs or other 
markings clearly indicating which space is the farmers market space offering 
inspected items for sale and which space is the direct-to-sale farmers market space 
offering items that are uninspected.
(3)
The department may make rules, in accordance with 
Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah 
Administrative Rulemaking Act
, regarding the signage described in Subsection 
(1)
.
(4)
The requirements described in Subsection 
(1)
 do not apply to a direct-to-sale farmers 
market comprising only minor producers or minor-operated businesses.
Section 5. 
Effective date.
This bill takes effect on 
May 7, 2025
.
3-7-25 8:27 AM