ARLINGTON, VA – On Wednesday, South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden signed Senate Bill 124 into law, banning the sale, manufacture, and distribution of lab-grown meat for five years. The law takes effect July 1, 2026, and will remain in place until June 2031. South Dakota is the eighth state to restrict the product, joining neighbors Nebraska and Montana.

The legislation targets products made by harvesting animal cells and growing them in large industrial vats, called bioreactors, to mimic conventional meat — a process that industry advocates promote as innovative, but critics argue raises serious unanswered questions. 

The Center for the Environment and Welfare (CEW), a consumer watchdog leading an ongoing public education campaign on lab-grown meat, says the law reflects growing bipartisan concern about the food technology and the pace at which it could enter the marketplace.

“There are no studies on the long-term health effects of lab-grown meat,” said Will Coggin, research director at CEW. “This law gives the science time to catch up without making consumers guinea pigs.”

CEW launched a public education campaign in 2023 to help consumers and lawmakers get the facts about lab-grown meat. For example, supporters often claim that lab-grown meat is more sustainable than traditional, farm-raised meat products. However, researchers at UC Davis believe lab-grown meat could have 25 times the environmental impact of farm-raised meat.