The measure was brought in the Tennessee Legislature in response to concerns about vaccines being used in produce sold in stores, said state Republicans.
The Tennessee Legislature has passed a bill that would require foods containing vaccines or vaccine materials to be labeled as pharmaceutical drugs.
The bill, HB 1894, passed in a 23–6 vote in the Tennessee Senate on March 28 after the state House passed it 73–22 on March 4. It now awaits the governor’s signature.
The measure says that foods with vaccines or vaccine materials would be classified as a drug under state law, meaning they would have to be labeled differently. Such foods wouldn’t be banned in the state but would be required to carry the same kind of medical labeling as vaccines or drugs.
The measure was brought in the Tennessee Legislature in response to concerns about vaccines being used in produce sold in stores, according to state Republicans.
“You would have to get a prescription for that to make sure that we know how much of the lettuce you have to eat based off of your body type so we don’t under-vaccinate you, which leads to the possibility of the efficacy of the drug being compromised, or we overdose you based off how much lettuce is [eaten],” Republican state Rep. Scott Cepicky said during a House committee meeting in February, WKRN-TV reported.
He said that the bill, which local media described as a move that targets “vaccine lettuce,” would classify as pharmaceutical foods that are modified to act as vaccines.
“So if you want to consume them you would go to your doctor and get a prescription,” he said.
Researchers Studying Edible Vaccines
Mr. Cepicky’s comments were in response to a University of California–Riverside research project that was looking at whether mRNA that targets pathogens could be implanted into edible plants, which would then be consumed. The university received a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to perform the research.
The most common COVID-19 vaccines in the United States, made by Pfizer and Moderna, use mRNA technology.
“We are testing this approach with spinach and lettuce and have long-term goals of people growing it in their own gardens,” Juan Pablo Giraldo, an associate professor at the university’s Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, said in a 2021 news release. “Farmers could also eventually grow entire fields of it.”
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