MAHA and Blue States get behind Food Additive Bills in State Legislatures

By Josh Keller, FLPC research assistant and incoming HLS class of ‘28

The conversation surrounding food additives underwent a drastic shift in 2025. With the rise of Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement, public sentiment has aligned across the political spectrum to identify and remove unsafe additives from the food system. A MAHA report blames chemical additives in Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs) for being a primary cause of chronic disease in children. Secretary Kennedy directed the FDA look at changing a rule allowing food companies to self-affirm their ingredients as Substances Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS). The Trump administration also began phasing out petroleum-based synthetic dyes from the American food supply. Regulatory changes based on this new focus on food safety are expected to continue to play out during this administration.   

At the state level, prior to 2025, several states had considered or enacted legislation to address additives in food or color dyes in schools, but these were pursued largely by blue states such as California or New York. However, legislation on these topics are now being looked at all over the country.

Based on a recent search of relevant state laws introduced in 2025, 35 States introduced 93 bills regarding food additives this legislative session, with 9 enacted as of June 24, 2025. The states that have enacted these bills are Arizona (UPF in Schools), Delaware (UPF in schools), Texas (2) (UPF in schools and food warning label requirements), Tennessee (UPF in schools), Utah (UPF in schools), Virginia (2) (UPF in schools and metals in baby food), and West Virginia (UPF in schools and general additive ban).

Bills analyzed in our search looking at additive safety generally fall into one of four main policy areas: Restricting Additives or Ultraprocessed Food in Schools (46 bills), General Additive Bans (25 bills), Food Warning Label Requirements (6 bills), and Required Disclosure of Use of “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) Substances in Foods (3 bills). Some bills are counted in multiple of those categories. Other categories of laws bills include food packaging, additives in baby food, and the creation of panels or commissions to study additives.

Below is a sampling of food safety bills that have either been enacted or are being considered.

West Virginia House Bill 2354 (Enacted): This sweeping bill prohibits the sale of all food in the state that contains BHA, propylparaben, Red 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2 and Green 3 beginning in January 2028 and also prohibits schools from providing food with the dyes Red 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2 and Green 3 beginning in August 2025. Food in schools is the most prevalent focus of state food safety bills related to additives, demonstrating just how much the political winds in this area have changed as Republican-led states take up a cause once championed by Michelle Obama.

Texas Senate Bill 25 (Enacted): The “Make Texas Healthy Again Act” would require warning labels on foods containing 44 different additives and chemicals. This warning label would read: “WARNING: This product contains an ingredient that is not recommended for human consumption by the appropriate authority in Australia, Canada, the European Union, or the United Kingdom”. This bill reflects both MAHA’s influence on state-level legislation and how states have to turn to international authorities as they wait for U.S. federal policy to play catch-up. In addition to requiring warning labels, this bill would require nutrition education in various stages of k-12 education, undergraduate and post-graduate education in medicine or other health-related fields, and continuing education for health professionals.

New York Senate Bill 1239/Assembly Bill 1556: The “Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act” would ban the manufacturing and sale of foods containing potassium bromate, propylparaben, Red 3, Red 40, Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6. Additionally, this bill would aim to increase transparency regarding substances added to food under a federal loophole that allows companies to self-determine ingredients as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) without going through the FDA first. This bill would require companies using any substances that they self-determined to be GRAS without any notification to FDA to disclose those to the state.