States target food dyes

State lawmakers are moving faster than federal regulators on food dyes, with bills or new laws now spreading across more than 15 states. (salon.com) The National Conference of State Legislatures said lawmakers in 20 states had introduced nearly 40 bills on dyes and other additives as of March 2025. Salon reported on April 11, 2026, that 28 states were on the Environmental Working Group’s map of active legislation on food chemicals. (ncsl.org) (salon.com) California set the template in October 2023, when Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 418. The law bans brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben and Red Dye No. 3 in food sold in California starting January 1, 2027. (gov.ca.gov) West Virginia went further on March 24, 2025, when Governor Patrick Morrisey signed House Bill 2354. The law bars certain synthetic dyes from school meals beginning August 1, 2025, and also restricts dyed foods sold statewide under a later phase-in. (governor.wv.gov) (ap.org) Texas chose labels instead of an outright ban. Senate Bill 25, signed June 22, 2025, requires warnings on foods containing any of 44 listed additives on labels developed or copyrighted on or after January 1, 2027. (ncsl.org) (hoganlovells.com) The federal picture shifted in pieces, not all at once. The Food and Drug Administration revoked Red No. 3 on January 15, 2025, but gave food makers until January 15, 2027, to reformulate, and ingested drugs until January 18, 2028. (fda.gov) Three months later, on April 22, 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration said they would work with industry to remove six other synthetic dyes from food by the end of 2026 and begin revoking Citrus Red No. 2 and Orange B. The agencies also said they would expand approvals for natural color alternatives and study effects on children’s health with the National Institutes of Health. (fda.gov) Federal regulators and state lawmakers are not making the same argument in the same way. The Food and Drug Administration said the rat mechanism behind Red No. 3 cancer findings “does not occur in humans,” while still revoking the dye under the Delaney Clause, a 1960 law that bars approval of color additives found to cause cancer in people or animals. (fda.gov) Industry groups have said state-by-state rules can scramble national food standards, while state officials say Washington left gaps they had to fill. In California’s 2023 signing message, Newsom wrote that consumers “trust that the food products they consume are safe,” and West Virginia’s Morrisey said his law targeted “harmful food dyes” in school lunches and retail foods. (gov.ca.gov) (governor.wv.gov) The practical effect is that candy, drinks, cereals and snack makers are now facing a patchwork with hard dates attached: August 1, 2025, in West Virginia schools; January 1, 2027, in California and on many Texas labels; and federal Red No. 3 deadlines in 2027 and 2028. That timetable, more than any single bill, is pushing the food dye fight out of Washington and into state capitols. (governor.wv.gov) (gov.ca.gov) (hoganlovells.com) (fda.gov)