How a ban on food dye in West Virginia has forged an unlikely alliance

[Lasher]

GOP lawmakers and consumer advocates have found common ground in banning preservatives and chemicals

In his short tenure, Kennedy has already underplayed the value of vaccines against measles while promoting potentially harmful alternative remedies, proposed a 10,000-person cut to the department’s staff and appears poised to undermine mRNA technology, an intervention that is considered the silver lining of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Trump administration’s aggressive cuts led an accomplished government regulator, the FDA’s food safety chief, Jim Jones, to resign after “indiscriminate” layoffs made his work impossible.

“The elephant in the room is RFK,” Jose said, referring to Kennedy. “We are worried the administration and Congress are not going to follow the science.”

West Virginia’s law will ban Red Dye No 3, Red Dye No 40, Yellow Dye No 5, Yellow Dye No 6, Blue Dye No 1, Blue Dye No 2, Green Dye No 3 and the preservatives butylated hydroxyanisole and propylparaben from school foods beginning this August, and from all foods sold in the state in 2028.

“West Virginia ranks at the bottom of many public health metrics, which is why there’s no better place to lead the make America healthy again mission,” Patrick Morrisey said, signing the bill on Monday, and thanking Trump and Kennedy.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/30/west-virginia-food-dye-ban