CHAPTER 107
An Act to amend and reenact §§ 3.2-5415 and 59.1-200 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 3.2-5402.1 , relating to misbranded meat food products prohibited; civil penalty.
[H 322]
Approved April 6, 2026
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 3.2-5415 and 59.1-200 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted and that the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 3.2-5402.1 as follows:
§ 3.2-5402.1 . Misbranded meat food product prohibited; civil penalty.
A. For the purposes of this section:
"Identifying meat term" means any word or phrase, in whole or in part, that states, indicates, suggests, or describes a meat food product or poultry product.
"Manufactured-protein food product" means a cultivated-protein food product, fungus-protein food product, insect-protein food product, plant-protein food product, or a protein food product that is not harvested directly from livestock or poultry.
B. Any food product that purports to be or is represented as a meat food product or poultry product shall be determined to be misbranded if such product (i) bears or contains a manufactured-protein food product; (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 food product that identifies the food as a meat food product or poultry product, without a conspicuous and prominent qualifying term in close proximity to an identifying meat term. For the purposes of this subsection, "qualifying term" includes the following words or phrases: cell-cultivated, cell-cultured, fake, grown in a lab, imitation, insect-based, lab-created, lab-grown, meat free, meatless, plant, plant-based, vegan, vegetable, veggie, or a comparable word or phrase. A meat food product or poultry product is not misbranded if the Department determines such meat food product or poultry product contains a trace amount of a manufactured-protein food product.