- During oral arguments on November 4, 2025, Upside Foods Inc. (Upside) urged the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to reverse a lower court’s decision denying a preliminary injunction against Florida’s law banning lab-grown meat, arguing that the state prohibition is federally preempted.
- As we previously reported, Upside, based in California, originally brought forth this lawsuit in 2024 in the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida, alleging that Florida’s SB 1084 is unconstitutional because it favors in-state businesses over out-of-state competitors. SB 1084 prohibits the manufacture, distribution, and sale of meat and poultry products grown directly from animal cells. Shortly after filing its lawsuit, Upside asked the court for a preliminary injunction, but the court denied that request in October 2024.
- Upside argued to the appeals court that while the lower court said that it was unlikely to prevail on its preemption claims, Upside would continue to suffer harm due to the threat of criminal prosecution. Upside also argued that the lower court mischaracterized the preemption issue by finding that the Florida ban must conflict with a federal law that requires the use of cultivated poultry cells as an ingredient in its products in order to issue an injunction, rather than merely conflicting with the company’s right to engage in interstate commerce. Upside’s position is that only the federal government can regulate poultry products under the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and the question of origin of meat and what would be considered a “poultry product” was extensively debated.
- Keller and Heckman will continue to monitor and relay developments in this case.
