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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) \u2014 A manufacturer of\u00a0\u201clab-grown\u201d meat<\/a>\u00a0has filed a lawsuit challenging a newly enacted\u00a0Florida law<\/a>\u00a0that bans the sale of the product, arguing the restrictions give an unconstitutional advantage to Florida farmers over out-of-state competitors.<\/p>\n \u201cIf some Floridians don\u2019t like the idea of eating cultivated chicken, there\u2019s a simple solution: Don\u2019t eat it,\u201d said Paul Sherman, an attorney at the Institute for Justice, one of the groups that filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.<\/p>\n U.S. regulators<\/a>\u00a0first signed off on the sale of what\u2019s known as \u201ccell-cultured\u201d or \u201ccell-cultivated\u201d meat in June of 2023. Sellers say the product is a more ethical and sustainable alternative to conventionally raised chicken, beef and pork.<\/p>\n But lawmakers in Florida and Alabama have called cultivated meat a threat to their states\u2019 agriculture industries and\u00a0banned<\/a>\u00a0the sale of the product, which is made of\u00a0animal cells<\/a>\u00a0that are fed a mix of proteins, vitamins and water and then formed into nuggets, sausages and steaks.<\/p>\n Asked for comment on the lawsuit, a spokesperson for\u00a0Gov. Ron DeSantis<\/a>\u00a0pointed to statements he made in May when he signed the state\u2019s cultivated meat ban into law, flanked by cattle farmers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe stand with agriculture, we stand with the cattle ranchers, we stand with our farmers because we understand it\u2019s important for the backbone of the state,\u201d DeSantis said. \u201cTake your fake lab-grown meat elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n