Misbranded food; manufactured-protein food products, civil penalty.
Summary
Misbranded food; manufactured-protein food products; civil penalty. Provides that a food is misbranded if it purports to be or is represented as a meat food product or poultry product and such food product (i) bears or contains a manufactured-protein food product, as defined in the bill; (ii) is offered for sale; and (iii) has a label that is part of or placed on the food product package or other container storing such product that identifies the food as a meat food product or poultry product, unless such label bears a conspicuous and prominent qualifying term and is in close proximity to an identifying meat term, as such terms are defined in the bill. The bill exempts a meat food product that the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services determines contains a trace amount of a manufactured-protein food product, prohibits the sale or offering for sale of a food product that is misbranded pursuant to the provisions of the bill, and makes doing so a violation of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. The bill provides that a person who violates the provisions of the bill is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $500 and allows the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services to adopt increased civil penalties not to exceed $500 for first, second, and subsequent violations of the bill. This bill is identical to SB 186.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Jan 11, 2026
Signed Apr 6, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
Enrolled
→
Chaptered
·
3 edits
MINOR
The bill was formally enacted into law as Chapter 107 of the 2026 Virginia Acts of Assembly. The substantive legal text regarding meat labeling and penalties remained identical to the draft version, with the primary changes being the addition of official approval dates, chapter numbers, and page breaks to finalize the document.
Scope change
The scope of the law remains unchanged; it continues to prohibit the sale of meat products containing manufactured proteins without clear labeling.
TECHNICAL
Added official chapter number (Chapter 107) and approval date (April 6, 2026) to formally enact the bill.
Inserted page breaks and formatting markers (e.g., '2 of 5') typical of the final printed version of a statute.
Removed draft session headers and placeholder lines to produce the clean, final text of the law.
Floor votes · Senate Mar 5, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 10, 2026
How they voted
38–0
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 39
Mar 5, 2026
D
Democratic20
95% Yea
R
Republican19
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
28
Key actions
12
Committee
7
Apr 6, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 107 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Mar 14, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 14, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 14, 2026
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB322ER)
lower
Mar 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
upper
Mar 6, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Mar 5, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
upper
Mar 4, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 24, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 11, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources
upper
Feb 10, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (95-Y 2-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources (21-Y 0-N 1-A)
lower
Jan 28, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (10-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 19, 2026
Committee
Assigned HACNR sub: Agriculture
lower
Jan 11, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources
lower
1 primary · 9 co-sponsors
Sponsors
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