Misbranded Food and Manufactured-Protein Products

LegiScan Virginia

Published March 14th, 2026

Detected March 28th, 2026

Summary

Virginia HB322 defines misbranded food, specifically manufactured-protein food products, and establishes civil penalties for violations. The bill prohibits the sale of misbranded products and allows for penalties up to $500 per violation, with increased penalties for repeat offenses.

View original document View source feed page

What changed

Virginia HB322, enacted by the General Assembly, amends the definition of misbranded food to include manufactured-protein food products that are misrepresented as meat or poultry products on their labels. The bill prohibits the sale of such misbranded products and establishes a civil penalty not to exceed $500 per violation. The Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services can adopt increased penalties for subsequent violations.

Food manufacturers and retailers in Virginia must ensure that products containing manufactured-protein food ingredients are accurately labeled to avoid misbranding. Compliance requires conspicuous and prominent qualifying terms on labels when such products are identified as meat or poultry. Failure to comply can result in civil penalties, with the potential for increased fines for repeat offenses. The bill also exempts meat food products containing trace amounts of manufactured-protein food products as determined by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

What to do next

Review product labeling for manufactured-protein food products to ensure compliance with new misbranding definitions.
Implement conspicuous and prominent qualifying terms on labels for products identified as meat or poultry that contain manufactured-protein food products.
Establish procedures to prevent the sale of misbranded food products as defined by the bill.

Penalties

Civil penalty not to exceed $500 per violation; Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services may adopt increased civil penalties not to exceed $500 for first, second, and subsequent violations.

Source document (simplified)

VA HB322 | 2026 | Regular Regular Session

Virginia House Bill 322

VA State Legislature page for HB322
- Summary
- Sponsors
- Texts
- Votes
- Research
- Comments
- Track

Status

Sponsorship: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 7-3)
Status: Enrolled on March 14 2026 - 75% progression
Action: 2026-03-25 - Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026
Text: Latest bill text (Enrolled) [HTML]

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.
Tracking Information Register now for our free OneVote public service or GAITS Pro trial account and you can begin tracking this and other legislation, all driven by the real-time data of the LegiScan API. Providing tools allowing you to research pending legislation, stay informed with email alerts, content feeds, and share dynamic reports. Use our new PolitiCorps to join with friends and collegaues to monitor & discuss bills through the process.

Monitor Legislation or view this same bill number from multiple sessions or take advantage of our national legislative search.

Title

Misbranded food; manufactured-protein food products, civil penalty.

Roll Calls

2026-03-09 - Senate - Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Y: 40 N: 0 NV: 0 Abs: 0) [PASS]
2026-03-05 - Senate - Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A) (Y: 39 N: 0 NV: 0 Abs: 1) [PASS]
2026-03-04 - Senate - Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) (Y: 15 N: 0 NV: 0 Abs: 0) [PASS]
2026-02-24 - Senate - Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N) (Y: 14 N: 0 NV: 0 Abs: 1) [PASS]
2026-02-10 - House - Read third time and passed House (95-Y 2-N 0-A) (Y: 95 N: 2 NV: 0 Abs: 3) [PASS]
2026-02-04 - House - Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources (21-Y 0-N 1-A) (Y: 21 N: 0 NV: 1 Abs: 0) [PASS]
2026-01-28 - House - Subcommittee recommends reporting (10-Y 0-N) (Y: 10 N: 0 NV: 0 Abs: 0) [PASS]

History

| Date | Chamber | Action |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-03-25 | | Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 |
| 2026-03-25 | House | Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 25, 2026 |
| 2026-03-16 | House | Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB322) |
| 2026-03-14 | Senate | Signed by President |
| 2026-03-14 | House | Signed by Speaker |
| 2026-03-14 | House | Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB322ER) |
| 2026-03-14 | House | Enrolled |
| 2026-03-09 | Senate | Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) |
| 2026-03-09 | Senate | Read third time |
| 2026-03-06 | Senate | Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) |
| 2026-03-05 | Senate | Passed by for the day (Voice Vote) |
| 2026-03-05 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A) |
| 2026-03-05 | Senate | Rules suspended |
| 2026-03-04 | Senate | Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) |
| 2026-02-24 | Senate | Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N) |
| 2026-02-11 | Senate | Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources |
| 2026-02-11 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) |
| 2026-02-10 | House | Read third time and passed House (95-Y 2-N 0-A) |
| 2026-02-09 | House | Read second time and engrossed |
| 2026-02-06 | House | Read first time |
| 2026-02-04 | House | Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources (21-Y 0-N 1-A) |
| 2026-01-28 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting (10-Y 0-N) |
| 2026-01-26 | House | Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB322) |
| 2026-01-19 | House | Assigned HACNR sub: Agriculture |
| 2026-01-11 | House | Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources |
| 2026-01-11 | House | Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26103201D |

Virginia State Sources

| Type | Source |
| --- | --- |
| Summary | https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB322 |
| Text | https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB322/text/HB322 |
| Text | https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB322/text/HB322ER |
| Supplement | https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1096540.PDF |
| Supplement | https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1213165.PDF |
| Roll Call | https://lis.virginia.gov/vote-details/HB322/20261/H01001V2610822 |
| Roll Call | https://lis.virginia.gov/vote-details/HB322/20261/H01V2611699 |
| Roll Call | https://lis.virginia.gov/vote-details/HB322/20261/26110104 |
| Roll Call | https://lis.virginia.gov/vote-details/HB322/20261/S1V1950 |
| Roll Call | https://lis.virginia.gov/vote-details/HB322/20261/S5V2516 |
| Roll Call | https://lis.virginia.gov/vote-details/HB322/20261/SV992 |
| Roll Call | https://lis.virginia.gov/vote-details/HB322/20261/SV1052 |

LegiScan Search

View Top 50 Searches

State: Select area of search. Bill Number: Find an exact bill number. Full Text Search: Search bill text and data. [help ] Reset

LegiScan Info

- 2026 Schedules

- Price List

LegiScan API

- Weekly Datasets

Documentation

- Search Help

- Voter Registration

LegiScan Trends

View Top 50 National

ME LD1804 An Act Concerning Funding and Oversight of Transportation Matters KS HB2433 Clarifying county authority over the transfer or appropriation of water... LA SR35 Commends Sheriff Jason Ard and the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office for... GA SR1049 Senate Study Committee on Acquiring and Management of Lake Lanier; cre... TN HJR1179 A RESOLUTION to honor and recognize Jeana Marks, 2026 Valedictorian of... WI AB659 Tuition and fee remission or grants for certain veterans and their dependents... OK HB4454 Medical marijuana; providing certain restrictions on edible products; effective... CA SCR111 Certified public accountants: 125th anniversary. FL H0281 Use of Artificial Intelligence in Psychological, Clinical, Counseling,... VA HB145 Fantasy contests; regulation and taxation, civil penalty, repeals fantasy...