Bill would require VDH food-allergy notices and multilingual restaurant postings
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Summary
SB 248 would require the Virginia Department of Health to publish a food-allergy notice in the top six non-English languages and require restaurants to post employee-accessible notices in available languages; senators asked whether signs must be updated when staff change language skills.
Senators considered SB 248, a reintroduction of a 2025 bill to formalize food-allergy notices and posting requirements.
Sponsor: The sponsor said the bill requires the Virginia Department of Health to post a standardized food-allergy notice on its website in English and the top six non-English languages and requires restaurants to post the notice in an employee-accessible area and to include a brief menu prompt asking customers to notify staff of allergies.
Questions: Senators asked whether restaurants would need to update signs when employees with new language skills are hired. The sponsor and counsel explained the requirement is to post at least one of the languages spoken by employees "to the extent such languages are among those in which the commissioner makes the notice available." Counsel and the sponsor clarified that the commissioner determines which languages are provided on VDH's site; restaurants need not create notices in languages VDH does not publish.
Support and opposition: Supporters included advocates concerned about allergic reactions and senators who described fatal anaphylaxis cases; some committee members expressed implementation concerns for restaurants, particularly digital-menu and QR-code environments. The committee voted to report the bill to the full committee with a roll-call recorded.
What's next: The bill will proceed to the full committee; sponsors and counsel expect to coordinate with VDH on implementation details.