Cultivated meat firm UPSIDE Foods, primarily based in Berkeley, California, served cultivated hen sandwiches throughout the Indianapolis 500 occasion on Sunday. This demonstration occurred shortly earlier than Indiana’s statewide ban on the sale of cultivated meat takes impact on July 1, 2025.
“Banning protected, USDA-approved meals is anti-free market and albeit, un-American”
Indiana’s laws prohibits the sale of cultivated meat merchandise, together with these produced by UPSIDE Meals. The corporate used the Indy 500 occasion to answer the upcoming ban, stating on social media: “UPSIDE is right here to defend your proper to decide on scrumptious hen grown with out the kill. So we served cultivated hen sandwiches on the hashtag Indy500 to make some extent: banning protected, USDA-approved meals is anti-free market and albeit, un-American.
Authorized struggle in opposition to state bans
UPSIDE Meals is actively engaged in authorized challenges in opposition to state prohibitions. In August 2024, the corporate filed a lawsuit against Florida, the primary state to enact a ban on cultivated meat gross sales. The authorized motion argues that Florida’s ban violates constitutional provisions. In April 2025, Chief Choose Mark Walker of the US District Court docket for the Northern District of Florida denied the federal government’s movement to dismiss the lawsuit. This small victory permits the case to proceed to trial.
Earlier this 12 months, the corporate applied workforce reductions as a part of a strategic restructuring designed to reinforce operational effectivity.
UPSIDE furthered,“Why did UPSIDE hen go to the Indy 500? It’s in a fowl temper. Indiana is banning cultivated meat as of July 1, 2025. The liberty to decide on what you eat is simply as American as a great tailgate.”
