Should States Ban Food Dyes and Additives

Should States Ban Food Dyes and Additives?

Lawmakers target synthetic dyes and select additives over health concerns.

Bright red candies or neon orange drinks may look appealing, but their ingredients are raising questions about public health and safety, and legislatures are taking notice, especially when it comes to children. As of March, lawmakers in 20 states have introduced nearly 40 bills aimed at regulating or banning dyes and other food additives.

A study published in the June 2025 issue of the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found that food and drinks with synthetic dyes contain an average of 141% more sugar than products without synthetic dyes.

In June, Texas passed a law requiring foods made with any of more than 40 dyes or additives to have warning labels starting in 2027 saying they contain ingredients "not recommended for human consumption." Texas joins states like California, whose legislature has passed multiple bills banning food additives such as Red Dye No. 3 from schools.

In the latest edition of "State of Play," a bipartisan video series created by A Starting Point and NCSL, California Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D) and West Virginia Delegate Adam Burkhammer (R) discuss the connection between food additives and health issues and the role states should play in the matter.

The Debate: Federal vs. State Regulation

According to Gabriel, there's a strong case for federal regulation when it comes to consumer safety decisions like product bans.

"The United States is in many ways a global outlier in food safety," he says, noting that the country allows certain additives banned in Europe and other nations. He points to a federal-level loophole known as the GRAS rule (generally recognized as safe), which allows chemical companies to self-regulate new additives without meaningful FDA review.

"In my mind, the FDA should be doing this work," he says. "It should be stepping up, it should be protecting consumers, but they haven't been doing that job. And so, as we often say in California, when Washington fails to act, then we have a responsibility in the state legislature to step up and lead. And that's what we did in California."

Burkhammer agrees, noting a West Virgina law passed in March 2025 prohibiting certain harmful food dyes in school lunches and unhealthy food items for sale in the state.

"We decided that we were going to take action, and if you look over the last year, the amount of manufacturers as well as other states that are getting on board, I believe that was driven by states like West Virginia pushing that," he says.

Balancing Science, Regulation and Choice

Gabriel and Burkhammer agree that science should guide decisions about regulating food additives, but they also emphasize the importance of practical solutions.

"We want to apply a lens of common sense understanding that things have to be workable," Gabriel says. "It has to make sense for parents, for kids, for school districts."

Burkhammer echoes that need, highlighting West Virginia's focus on addressing its overall health crisis by targeting artificial food dyes.

Both legislators also stress the role of consumer choice. Gabriel notes that while parents can choose what to buy at the grocery store, children in schools often have no say in the meals they are served. And when it comes to products with certain additives carrying warning labels, Burkhammer says he prefers banning unsafe ingredients, viewing warning labels as a less effective approach.

Gabriel notes that many companies already produce different versions of their products for countries with stricter regulations.

"Just give our kids the version that you're making in Italy. Give our kids the version that you're making in Japan. Give our kids the version that you're making in Peru or South Korea or any of these other countries," he says. "We don't think this is going to pull foods off the shelf. We think it's going to put a very small amount of pressure on manufacturers to tweak their recipes to make those minor modifications so that we can still have the foods that all of us love and enjoy. We can just have a slightly healthier version of it."

Watch the full video now.