In 2018 Turtle Island Inc. the manufacturer of Tofurky® a vegetable-based meat substitute sued the state of Missouri claiming that the labeling law was unconstitutional and deprived the company and other alt-meat manufacturers of their First Amendment rights.
A district court rejected the assertion of the plaintiffs who appealed to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court. The Court ruled that the plaintiffs had not established that the law applies to the company’s products or that Tofurky faced any risk relating to enforcement. Senior Circuit Judge Michael Melloy ruled that, “the statue would not ever nor could ever be applied to their speech and therefore the company would not likely be harmed in a potential enforcement action.”