Bill To Ban Certain Food Dyes, Preservatives Close To Governor’s Desk

A bill that would ban foods that contain certain ingredients cleared the Senate this week, and is very close to completing legislation. This bill would make West Virginia the first state in the US to have such an extensive ban on these ingredients. 

House Bill 2354 bans foods that contain a series of ingredients including preservatives like  butylated hydroxyanisole, propylparaben and food dyes like Blue No. 1, Blue No. 2,  Green No. 3,  Red No. 3, Red No. 40, Yellow No. 5, and Yellow No. 6. 

Red Dye 3 is currently banned by the FDA and not sold in food in the US. 

This bill originates from the House of Delegates which passed it last week 93-5. The no votes were all Republicans. 

The bill landed on the House floor last Monday and since then legislators in both chambers have shared personal stories about the effects of food dyes on themselves and their families. 

Sen. Laura Chapman, R-Ohio, and the Senate Health Committee chair, said the bill is probably the single most important bill that the Senators will vote on in their career. 

“Remember this day, because this will be the start of making our state and our children healthier,” Chapman said. “This bill, if signed into law, will put us at the forefront of food safety in West Virginia.” 

Sen. Jason Barrett, R-Berkeley, said that West Virginia consumers deserve the same level of protections as consumers in other countries where some of these ingredients are banned, or require warning labels. 

In fact, Mountain Dew in the UK is colored with beta carotene. In the United States, it’s colored with yellow number five

“In other countries, the EU, the UK and Canada, where bans or warning label requirements are in place.. So I’d ask my colleagues to ask themselves this question, do the children and families in Milan deserve safer food than those in Martinsburg? Do those in London deserve safer food than those in Logan, or do those in Paris deserve better than those in Parkersburg,” said Barrett. 

Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, was one of two no votes in the Senate. 

“I’m worried about the precedent that we set in West Virginia, with coming in and just arbitrarily going through, without going through, a study with us here at home on these chemicals, on anything we have with the food habits, because we can take this path with refined sugar, too,” Tarr said. 

The National Confectioners Association (NCA) is a trade organization that represents candy and sweets manufacturers like Mars that produce Skittles. In an emailed press release the association said this bill will make food more expensive and less accessible for West Virginians. 

“There is a role for state legislators and public health officials to play in the ongoing conversation about food additives, but  as we have been saying for years FDA is the rightful national regulatory decision maker and leader in food safety,” NCA said in the statement.  

Tarr said with West Virginia being the home of many food manufacturers he’s not sure this will be good for the state’s business economy. The NCA says this bill could hurt national food producers. 

“This measure will make foreign products imported from Europe and other places more readily available, thereby putting American companies at a competitive disadvantage and risking manufacturing jobs across the state,” the NCA said in the statement. 

The Bill passed the Senate 31-2. A small amendment that changed the year the bill goes into effect from 2027 to 2028 means that the bill will have to go back to the house where Delegates can either concur or reject the change. If they concur it will head directly to the governor’s desk.