States Move to Ban Artificial Dyes From Food as RFK Jr. Works on Federal Level

A longtime movement to eliminate artificial dyes from food is generating momentum, with some health advocates invoking Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again platform. Multiple state Legislatures have introduced bills designed to ban artificial dyes and other food additives. The Environmental Working Group, a food safety advocacy organization, reports that 20 states have introduced around 40 measures within the first three months of 2025 addressing artificial dyes and chemicals in food. In October 2023, California’s Legislature banned Red No. 3. Last August, it also passed a measure to remove six other common dyes from use in school foods....