HB 4852 West Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Relating to regulation of foods

This bill updates West Virginia's food safety law by adding specific dyes (like FD&C Yellow No. 5) to the list of substances deemed "poisonous or injurious to health" if proven harmful through scientific evidence. It requires that such substances be explicitly designated as unsafe under state law before restrictions apply. Food manufacturers must now clearly label mixtures with ingredient percentages and use specific font sizes for "compound" or "mixture" labels. The changes take effect January 1, 2028, directly affecting food producers and sellers in West Virginia.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 28, 2026 Last action Mar 12, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Committee Substitute → Engrossed Committee Substitute · 2 edits · Feb 17, 2026

MINOR

The bill text was updated to reflect its new status as an 'Engrossed' version rather than a 'Committee Substitute,' indicating it has passed the committee stage. Additionally, the formatting of the exemption clauses was adjusted to capitalize the first letter of the sentences, improving readability without altering the legal meaning.

TECHNICAL

Updated the header and version history to show the bill is now an 'Engrossed Version' instead of a 'Committee Substitute.'

Capitalized the first letter of the exemption list items to ensure consistent sentence structure.

Floor votes · House of Delegates Feb 17, 2026

How they voted

84–10

Passed · 5 other

Total votes 99

Feb 17, 2026

D Democratic9

5 Yea 4 Nay

55% Yea

R Republican90

79 Yea 6 Nay 5

87% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 12, 2026

Committee

Referred to Rules on 2nd reading

upper

Mar 11, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported do pass, with amendment

upper

Feb 26, 2026

Committee

To Judiciary

upper

Feb 26, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported do pass, with amendment, but first to Judiciary

upper

Feb 18, 2026

Committee

To Health and Human Resources

upper

Feb 18, 2026

Committee

To Health and Human Resources then Judiciary

upper

Feb 18, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in Senate

upper

Feb 17, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed House (Roll No. 106)

lower

Feb 12, 2026

Lower · Passed

By substitute, do pass

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Committee

To House Health and Human Resources

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Committee

To Health and Human Resources

lower

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor