| 1. Current US marketing landscape for AP compared with conventional livestock-derived protein products is confusing for the public |
The FDA, FTC, and USDA could collaborate to update the FTC's 2012 “green” advertising standards for environmental sustainability claims and eco-sustainable food and beverage product labeling. The FDA and FTC should enforce guidelines that ensure AP plant-based and cell-cultured product advertising and marketing claims and campaigns are truthful and nonmisleading to inform consumers’ choices in the US marketplace.
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| 2. American consumers have diverse views and varying acceptance about the health and environmental benefits of AP plant-based and cell-cultured products compared with conventional livestock and other animal protein sources and products |
The USDA could clarify the agency's position on minimally processed plant-based foods, fund research to clarify the role of AP products in national dietary guidelines, and investigate how these products may support healthy sustainable dietary patterns and food systems. US professional societies could publish position statements based on evidence from other countries to encourage the USDA and HHS to incorporate environmental sustainability principles into the 2025 DGAC and DGA 2025–2030 report recommendations.
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| 3. Federal government agencies have provided inadequate education and labeling for consumers to understand how AP products may support healthy sustainable diets |
The USDA could use rulemaking to conduct a public consultation to inform how AP product labeling and education may support healthy and sustainable dietary guidelines. The USDA could develop digital education and social media marketing campaigns that adapt the DGA and MyPlate messages to encourage minimally processed plant foods that align with other public education efforts, such as the Produce for Better Health Foundation's “Have a Plant” movement and the EAT–Lancet planetary health diet. The CDC, FDA, and USDA could work with researchers, industry, and civil society organizations to communicate how AP products may support healthy and environmentally sustainable dietary guidelines for public food procurement.
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| 4. Slow federal policy and regulatory actions to address the range of AP products |
The FDA, FTC, and USDA should use their institutional authority, and work with the US Congress, to enact national legislation to supersede and pre-empt different state laws that restrict AP plant-based product labeling and marketing. The FDA and USDA should communicate the regulatory guidelines and timeline for approving cell-cultured food products to be sold in the US marketplace.
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