States Move to Regulate Artificial Food Dyes and Additives

Synthetic food dyes and some specific food preservatives found in a plethora of food products sold in the United States are coming under increased scrutiny in states across the country. State policymakers from both sides of the political spectrum have argued that the federal government has stalled in taking action to curb potentially harmful food additives and ingredients. Bans on some ingredients in the European Union, Australia, and Japan combined with the rise of the “Make America Health Again” movement have inspired an unprecedented level of state legislative action in 2025. 

West Virginia Leads the Way in 2025

Back In 2023, California became the first state in the country to ban certain food additives state-wide, those additives include Brominated vegetable oil, Potassium bromate, Propylparaben, and Red dye no. 3. The policy goes into effect on January 1, 2027. California also banned Red No. 40, Yellow No. 5, Yellow No. 6, Blue No. 1, Blue No. 2, Green No. 3 from being served in public schools starting December 21, 2027. 

West Virginia recently became the first state to enact a sweeping ban on certain food dyes and additives in 2025 after Governor Patrick Morrisey signed HB 2354 into law in mid-March. West Virginia ranks near the bottom of U.S. states for many health metrics, including the lowest average life expectancy of any state. Beginning on January 1, 2028, food items containing Red Dye #40 and #3, Yellow Dye #5 and #6, Blue Dye #1 and #2, and Green Dye #3 will be prohibited in the state, along with the preservatives butylated hydroxyanisole and propylparaben. According to the official press release from Governor Morrisey’s office, the extended deadline is designed to allow companies time to come into compliance. The law also prohibits the use of the same additives from school nutritional programs, which is slated for implementation on August 1, 2025. The advanced timeline for school nutritional programs likely presents a compliance challenge for both school districts and their suppliers.

Legislative Activity in 2025

The quick enactment of this pioneering legislation is part of a broader trend spreading across the country. Lawmakers in more than 20 states — from deep red West Virginia to heavily democratic California — are making bipartisan pushes to restrict access to food dyes and specific preservatives. We’re tracking 118 food additive-related bills during the 2025 legislative sessions. 

For example, in Arizona, House lawmakers unanimously passed HB 2164 which restricts federally funded schools from serving or selling “ultraprocessed” food, which are foods that have undergone significant industrial processing, typically involving the addition of multiple ingredients including food dyes and other preservatives. In Utah, Governor Spencer Cox signed a bill (HB 402), to prohibit public schools from selling or serving food with artificial food dyes beginning in 2026. Similar bills have also made progress in Maryland (HB 1208) and Texas (SB 25) this year. 

Why All This Attention On Restricting Food Additives? 

Public health advocates have been advocating for state and federal action for years, pointing to research that links food dyes and other chemical additives to health risks, including potentially exacerbating symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders, and animal research providing evidence that some additives are carcinogenic. 

The European Union, Australia, and Japan, have already banned or restricted the use of certain food dyes due to potential health risks. Recent activist protests of major U.S. based food manufacturers demanding the removal of certain ingredients resulted in some public corporate commitments to change ingredients. But the perceived lack of follow through on many of those commitments has fanned the flames of advocates and policymakers passionate about this issue. 

The political rise of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a long time advocate of increased food safety, culminating in his appointment as Secretary of Health and Human Services for the Trump Administration and the branding of the “Make America Healthy Again” initiative has motivated republican legislators to advance similar policies. Kennedy’s supporters have been pointing to the influx of processed foods into the American diet over the last several decades and have recently been successful in reaching young Americans via social media and podcasts, for example. When Governor Patrick Morrisey signed West Virginia’s new law, he said, “There is no better place to lead the Make America Health Again mission” a direct reference to the growing MAHA movement. RFK Jr. also appeared alongside Governor Morrisey at a press event in late March. 

What’s Next? 

A likely next target will be seed oils commonly found in the standard American diet. “Seed oils” is a universal term describing a whole class of cooking oils such as canola, vegetable, sunflower seed and others, which advocates claim can lead to a litany of metabolic health issues. While the scientific evidence is still relatively unclear as to the effects of these oils on humans, it is likely that there will be bi-partisan efforts in the states to limit usage over the next several years. In 2025, twenty-seven bills in 15 different states were introduced that mention bromated vegetable oil, a food additive that is commonly used in sports drinks and sodas. 

While state policymakers may continue to focus on the use of artificial food dyes in the near term, there is no shortage of other health issues that the wider MAHA movement is passionate about, from pharmaceuticals and vaccines, the use of pesticides on food crops, or the presence of fluoride in drinking water. Many of these issues are highly contentious, and generally unsupported by well-established scientific evidence. But that may not necessarily matter as voices from the political left and right continue to demand action, and states are proving a willingness to act now. 

The wider MAHA movement is beginning to influence public policy and bringing a more bipartisan approach to food safety by aligning with long-time advocates more traditionally aligned with the left. This emerging political dynamic, combined with enacted bans in other parts of the world (with which food producers have already complied) will make the traditional opposition arguments around compliance challenges and cost to consumers less likely to be successful.  We expect states on both sides of the political spectrum to continue to seek policy proposals limiting the use of artificial ingredients in food over the next several years. 

Tracking State Food Additive Legislation 

MultiState’s team is actively identifying and tracking food additive issues so that businesses and organizations have the information they need to navigate and effectively engage. If your organization would like to further track these or other related issues, please contact us.