Congress·In Committee·H.R. 8596

FAIR Labels Act of 2026

Food Labeling: New Rules for Lab-Grown and Plant-Based Meat

Apr 30·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

This bill is one vehicle in a longer effort. See the full story across every version.View effort →

Next up: A house committee

The FAIR Labels Act of 2026 is in the early stages of the legislative process. It was sent to the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on April 29, 2026. These committees must review the bill before it can move forward, but no further action has occurred since that date.

Legislative Progress

House

Senate

President

Law

Unlikely to pass

This bill faces a difficult path because it only has support from one party so far and could be challenged by companies that make meat alternatives.

How we got here

This bill’s path across every version that has carried it.

Reintroduced
Reintroduced from H.R. 7130 (118th), which died when its Congress ended.
H.R. 7130 (118th) →

Key Points

This bill requires companies to clearly label lab-grown meat as cell-cultivated. The label must be easy to read and placed right next to the name of the food so shoppers know it was grown in a lab rather than raised on a farm.
Plant-based products that look like meat would also need new labels. They must be called plant-based alternative protein products and include a statement saying they do not contain real meat from a live animal.
The Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration would share the job of watching over these products. One agency would check the safety of the cells used to grow the meat while the other would inspect the final products and their labels.
This policy aims to help consumers know exactly what they are buying. Supporters say it prevents confusion between traditional farm-raised meat and newer alternatives made in labs or from plants.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Apr 30, 2026House

Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.

Apr 30, 2026

Introduced in House

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

No votes or news coverage recorded for this bill yet.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

FAIR Labels Act of 2026

Bill NumberHR 8596

Congress119th Congress

ChamberHouse of Representatives

Latest ActionReferred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.