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\n State lawmakers are targeting food dyes and other additives in a slew of new bills.
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Inna Reznik\/iStockphoto\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
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Inna Reznik\/iStockphoto\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
As policy counsel for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, it’s Jensen Jose<\/a>‘s job to track food policy law. But this year it’s been very hard to keep up. Lawmakers of all political stripes offered up proposals targeting food additives across many states<\/a>.<\/p>\n “There’s a lot of bills out there,” Jose says.<\/p>\n State policymakers are considering dozens of proposals this year aiming to limit the use of synthetic coloring and other chemical additives, like preservatives.<\/p>\n State bills vary but Jose says most of the proposals<\/a> focus on broadening the list of banned petroleum-based food colorings from Red No. 3, which the Food and Drug Administration already plans to phase out<\/a>.<\/p>\n Many include Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, or Yellow 6. Some bills seek to regulate other chemicals, such as the preservative propylparaben, or potassium bromate, a chemical added to flour to strengthen dough.<\/p>\n Some bills have already become law. Arizona and Utah’s new laws will eliminate dyes and some additives from food served in schools. Texas will require, instead, warning labels<\/a> for 44 listed food additives, specifying some ingredients are not recommended for human consumption by authorities in Australia, Canada, EU and the UK.<\/p>\n Many other proposals have died in the legislative process. But Jose says the sudden overall enthusiasm for food additive regulation reflects consumer frustration with federal inaction and an abrupt political embrace of the issue by conservative lawmakers historically resistant to regulation.<\/p>\n “The rise of MAHA \u2014 Make America Healthy Again \u2014 really was probably one of the more influential themes,” he says of this year’s state legislative season.<\/p>\n That movement \u2014 championed by President Trump and his Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. \u2014 has shifted the political landscape on this issue.<\/p>\n When it comes to food additives, Jose supports eliminating those linked with health issues. But he also worries some of MAHA’s other policy stances go too far in touting unscientific or pseudoscientific claims repeated by social media influencers.<\/p>\n “When you see MAHA translate that to things like vaccines and drugs and COVID, then it starts becoming a problem,” he says.<\/p>\n Take, for example, some proposals seeking to regulate seed oils such as soybean or safflower \u2014 despite a lack of evidence<\/a> showing they pose a danger to public health.<\/p>\n![\"Kraft](\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/1414x1414+309+0\/resize\/100\/quality\/100\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe7%2Fec%2F644826514eaead13a729b3f2009b%2Fgettyimages-155680687.jpg\")
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