SB365: SB365 "Georgia Meat and Organic Produce Transparency and Safety Act"; enact

This bill creates new testing, recordkeeping, and disclosure rules for certain Georgia food producers who market themselves using terms like organic, grassfed, pasture-raised, or free-range. Large organic produce growers with at least $500,000 in annual sales would have to test a share of their crops monthly for banned substances. Large grassfed meat producers (at least $1 million in sales) would have to keep records tracing livestock, disclose whether animals were sold through livestock markets, culled, fed outside the marketed standard, or over five years old at slaughter, and test older cattle for diseases like mad cow disease. Large pasture-raised poultry producers (at least $250,000 in sales) would have to test flocks weekly for avian influenza. Producers who violate these rules face civil fines of up to $5,000 for a first offense and $10,000 for repeat offenses, plus possible loss of the right to use these marketing labels in Georgia. The law would take effect January 1, 2026.

• Requires large-scale organic produce producers (at least $500,000 in annual sales) to test at least 3 percent of their produce monthly for prohibited substances and report failures to state and federal regulators.
• Requires large-scale grassfed meat producers (at least $1 million in sales) to keep five years of records tracing livestock birth, feeding, ownership transfers, and transportation.
• Requires disclosure labels on beef from cattle over five years old, plus mandatory testing of those older cattle for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies such as mad cow disease.
• Requires large-scale pasture-raised poultry producers (at least $250,000 in sales) to test at least 3 percent of flocks weekly for avian influenza and to notify authorities and halt sales after a positive case.
• Sets civil penalties of up to $5,000 for a first violation and $10,000 for repeat violations, with possible suspension or revocation of the right to market products using these labels.
• Requires producers selling multiple types of labeled meat to track each species separately and give online buyers a QR code or digital sourcing record.

Large organic produce growers, large grassfed and regeneratively raised meat producers (beef, pork, lamb, goat), and large pasture-raised or free-range poultry producers operating in Georgia, along with the state Department of Agriculture, which enforces the new testing and disclosure rules.

Georgians buying meat and produce marketed as organic, grassfed, pasture-raised, or free-range would get more disclosure about how the food was actually raised or processed, including cattle age and market history, while covered producers would face new testing costs, recordkeeping burdens, and fines for noncompliance.

• Section 2 adds O.C.G.A. § 2-21-3.1, requiring large-scale organic produce producers to test 3 percent of produce monthly for prohibited substances starting January 1, 2026, with five years of records retained.
• Section 3 adds O.C.G.A. § 4-6-13, defining terms like 'large-scale grassfed meat producer,' 'older cattle,' and 'specified risk material.'
• Subsection (b) requires large-scale grassfed meat producers to keep five years of livestock source and management records available to the department.
• Subsection (c) requires conspicuous point-of-sale disclosures on whether livestock were sold through livestock markets, culled, given non-conforming feed, or over five years old.
• Subsection (d) requires labeling of beef from cattle over five years old and mandatory prion disease testing of specified risk materials at slaughter.
• Subsection (e) requires weekly avian influenza testing of at least 3 percent of pasture-raised poultry flocks and immediate response steps for positive cases.
• Subsection (g) sets civil penalties of up to $5,000 for a first offense and $10,000 for later offenses, plus possible suspension of marketing rights.
• Section 4 sets the effective date as January 1, 2026.

1. 2026-01-12Senate Recommitted (Senate)
2. 2025-04-04Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
3. 2025-04-04Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
4. 2025-03-28Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
5. 2025-03-27Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Sam Watson (R, SD-011)Primary sponsor
• Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)
• Lee Anderson (R, SD-024)
• Drew Echols (R, SD-049)
• Colton Moore (R, SD-053)
• Carden Summers (R, SD-013)

• organic food labeling
• meat industry regulation
• food safety testing
• avian influenza
• agriculture transparency