In a year marked by a whirlwind of legislative activity, the regulation of food additives has become a hot topic in statehouses across the United States. As the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s policy counsel, Jensen Jose finds it challenging to track the numerous proposals targeting food additives emerging from policymakers of all political leanings.
“There’s a lot of bills out there,” Jose comments.
This year, state lawmakers are examining a multitude of proposals seeking to restrict the use of synthetic colorings and various chemical additives, such as preservatives. While the specific details of these bills vary, many aim to expand the list of prohibited petroleum-based food colorings beyond Red No. 3, which the Food and Drug Administration has already slated for phase-out. These proposals often include colorings like Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6. Other legislative initiatives are targeting chemicals like the preservative propylparaben and potassium bromate, an additive used to enhance dough strength.
Several bills have successfully become law. For instance, new regulations in Arizona and Utah will remove certain dyes and additives from foods served in schools. Meanwhile, Texas plans to implement warning labels for 44 identified food additives, indicating that some ingredients are not recommended for human consumption by authorities in countries like Australia, Canada, the European Union, and the United Kingdom.
Despite the demise of many proposals during the legislative process, Jose believes this burst of enthusiasm for regulating food additives is a response to consumer dissatisfaction with federal inaction and a surprising shift in conservative lawmakers’ attitudes toward regulation.
“The rise of MAHA — Make America Healthy Again — really was probably one of the more influential themes,” Jose notes, referring to the state legislative season’s trends.
This movement, championed by President Trump and his Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has reshaped the political dialogue on this issue. While Jose supports the removal of additives linked to health concerns, he expresses concerns about some of MAHA’s other stances that promote unscientific claims propagated by social media influencers.
“When you see MAHA translate that to things like vaccines and drugs and COVID, then it starts becoming a problem,” he explains.
For instance, some legislative proposals seek to regulate seed oils, such as soybean or safflower, despite the lack of evidence suggesting they pose a risk to public health. Kennedy has committed to prioritizing “gold-standard” science.
John Hewitt, a lobbyist for the Consumer Brands Association, argues that some legislative actions on food dyes may be unnecessary, as not all ingredients pose health risks. He highlights that many food companies, including Nestle, Kraft Heinz, and Kellogg (known for Froot Loops), have already announced plans to remove artificial dyes from their products in response to consumer demands.
Hewitt emphasizes that having different state regulations on food dyes is impractical for national brands, which cannot create separate recipes or packaging for each state. “Supply chain and logistics get to be very challenging when we have state-specific requirements,” he states.
Experts believe that the FDA will eventually need to intervene and establish new regulations to ensure a uniform national standard, going beyond its ban on Red No. 3 and the voluntary phase-out of other synthetic dyes. This push for a stricter national standard may have been the intention behind these state bills, according to Steve Mandernach, head of the Association of Food and Drug Officials.
However, Mandernach does not foresee synthetic dyes disappearing from food products anytime soon. Manufacturing processes and consumer expectations, such as the desire for pastel-green mint chip ice cream, are not likely to change overnight.
“The thought that all dyes will be out of food quickly is probably just not a reality … it’s going to take a long time to make that happen,” he concludes.
Copyright 2025 NPR
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