Alan Greenblatt
When certainly one of Adam Burkhammer’s foster youngsters struggled with hyperactivity, the West Virginia legislator and his spouse determined to change their weight loss plan and take away any meals that contained artificial dyes.
“We saw a turnaround in his behavior, and our other children,” stated Burkhammer, who has adopted or fostered 10 youngsters together with his spouse. “There are real impacts on real kids.”
The Republican turned his expertise into laws, sponsoring a invoice to ban seven dyes from meals offered within the state. It turned legislation in March, making West Virginia the primary state to institute such a ban from all meals merchandise.
The invoice was amongst a slew of state efforts to manage artificial dyes. In 2025, roughly 75 payments geared toward meals dyes had been launched in 37 states, in response to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Chemical dyes and diet are simply a part of the broader “Make America Healthy Again” agenda. Promoted by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., MAHA concepts have made their deepest inroads on the state stage, with robust help from Republicans — and in some locations, from Democrats. The $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program — created final yr as a part of the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act to broaden well being care entry in rural areas — gives incentives to states that implement MAHA insurance policies.
Federal and state officers are looking for a broad swath of well being coverage modifications, together with rolling again routine vaccinations and increasing using medicine similar to ivermectin for therapies past their accredited use. State lawmakers have launched dozens of bills targeting vaccines, fluoridated water, and PFAS, a bunch of compounds referred to as “forever chemicals” which were linked to most cancers and different well being issues.
In addition to West Virginia, six different states have focused meals dyes with new legal guidelines or government orders, requiring warning labels on meals with sure dyes or banning the sale of such merchandise in faculties. California has had a legislation regulating meals dyes since 2023.
Most artificial dyes used to paint meals have been around for decades. Some medical research have discovered a hyperlink between their use and hyperactivity in children. And in early 2025, within the final days of President Joe Biden’s time period, the Food and Drug Administration outlawed the use of a dye referred to as Red No. 3.
Major meals corporations together with Nestle, Hershey, and PepsiCo have gotten on board, pledging to eradicate a minimum of some coloration components from meals merchandise over the subsequent yr or two.
“We anticipate that the momentum we saw in 2025 will continue into 2026, with a particular focus on ingredient safety and transparency,” stated John Hewitt, the senior vice chairman of state affairs for the Consumer Brands Association, a commerce group for meals producers.
This previous summer time, the group referred to as on its members to voluntarily eliminate federally certified artificial dyes from their merchandise by the tip of 2027.
“The state laws are really what’s motivating companies to get rid of dyes,” stated Jensen Jose, regulatory counsel for the Center for Science within the Public Interest, a nonprofit well being advocacy group.
Andy Baker-White, the senior director of state well being coverage for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, stated the bipartisan help for payments focusing on meals dyes and ultraprocessed meals struck him as uncommon. Several purple states have proposed laws modeled on California’s 2023 legislation, which bans 4 meals components.
“It’s not very often you see states like California and West Virginia at the forefront of an issue together,” Baker-White stated.
Although Democrats have joined Republicans in a few of these efforts, Kennedy continues to drive the agenda. He appeared with Texas officers when the state enacted a package deal of food-related legal guidelines, together with one which bars people who take part within the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — SNAP, or meals stamps — from utilizing their advantages to purchase sweet or sugary drinks. In December, the U.S. Department of Agriculture accredited related waivers sought by six states. Eighteen states will block SNAP purchases of these gadgets in 2026.
There are sure to be extra. The Rural Health Transformation Program additionally gives incentives to states that applied restrictions on SNAP.
“There are real and concrete effects where the rural health money gives points for changes in SNAP eligibility or the SNAP definitions,” Baker-White stated.
In October, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a invoice that units a legal definition for ultraprocessed foods and can section them out of colleges. It’s a transfer that could be copied in different states in 2026, whereas additionally offering fodder for authorized battles. In December, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu sued major food companies, accusing them of promoting “harmful and addictive” merchandise. The lawsuit names particular manufacturers — together with cereals, pizzas, sodas, and potato chips — linking them to severe well being issues.
Kennedy has additionally blamed ultraprocessed foods for power ailments. But even proponents of the efforts to deal with diet issues don’t agree on which meals to focus on. MAHA adherents on the suitable haven’t targeted on sugar and sodium as a lot as policymakers on the left. The events have additionally butted heads over some Republicans’ championing of raw milk, which may unfold dangerous germs, and the consumption of saturated fat, which contributes to heart disease.
Policymakers anticipate different flash factors. Moves by the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that are making vaccine access more difficult have led blue states to find ways to set their own standards apart from federal recommendations, with 15 Democratic governors announcing a new public health alliance in October. Meanwhile, extra purple states could eradicate vaccine mandates for workers; Idaho made them illegal. And Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is pushing to eliminate school vaccine mandates.
Even as Kennedy advocates eliminating synthetic dyes, the Environmental Protection Agency has loosened restrictions on chemical substances and pesticides, main MAHA activists to circulate an online petition calling on President Donald Trump to fireplace EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.
Congress has but to behave on most MAHA proposals. But state lawmakers are poised to deal with a lot of them.
“If we’re honest, the American people have lost faith in some of our federal institutions, whether FDA or CDC,” stated Burkhammer, the West Virginia lawmaker. “We’re going to step up as states and do the right thing.”
