Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, on Aug. 27, signed into law three bills inspired by the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement.
Joining Abbott at the event in Austin was the U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a leader of the movement.
Abbott signed Texas Senate Bill 25, which requires a warning label disclosing ingredients such as the synthetic colorings Blue No. 2 and Green No. 3.
He also signed Texas Senate Bill 314, legislation that bars schools that participate in the national school lunch programs from serving products with certain additives, including brominated vegetable oil and titanium dioxide.
The third piece of legislation, Senate Bill 379, states that food stamps cannot be used to buy sweetened drinks and candy, codifying an earlier move from Abbott.
All three were unanimously approved by the state Senate. State representatives unanimously passed one, and there was broad support for the two others.
“Texas is doing its part to make Texas healthy again by the laws I’m signing today,” Abbott said.
“Every legislator in Texas wants to see Texas be put on a pathway to be healthier,” he added later. “These laws that I’m signing today chart that pathway.”
Kennedy praised Abbott and the legislators for taking action.
“You’re not only making Texas healthy again, you’re making America healthy again,” he said.
Federal officials working under Kennedy have banned several synthetic additives. They are continuing to allow six others, while trying to persuade companies to voluntarily remove them.
General Mills and Kraft Heinz are among the companies that have pledged to go dye-free in the coming years.
Kennedy told the event that manufacturers are committing to the removals because they’re scared of states such as Texas.
The Consumer Brands Association, which represents manufacturers, said over the summer that the dyes are safe but that companies would work to provide more products with alternative ingredients.
“Consumer Brands has long asked [federal agencies] to reestablish themselves as the country’s leading regulatory authority, and we appreciate that the administration has reasserted its leadership in response to the myriad of state activity in the food regulation space,” Melissa Hockstad, the association’s president and CEO, said at the time. “A state patchwork of differing laws creates confusion for consumers, limits access to everyday goods, deters innovation, and increases costs at the grocery store.”
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