Louisiana recently enacted Senate Bill 14, which HHS Secretary Kennedy called a “Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) bill,” targeting more than 40 food ingredients—such as seed oils, food colorings, sweeteners, and other additives—through product label disclosures and public school meal bans.
Current food safety oversight is spread across multiple federal, state, and local agencies, which Cotton says decreases efficacy, creates gaps, and slows response times to potential public health risks.
New York State Senator Brian Kavanagh, lead Senate sponsor of the legislation, says a key aim of the bill is to address major loopholes in federal food regulation.
Taking effect by the 2026–2027 school year, the Arizona Healthy Schools Act has been signed into law, banning “ultra-processed foods,” defined as foods containing any one of 11 artificial food dyes and additives, from being sold in schools.
With the passage of House Bill 81, Utah will ban the addition of fluoride to public drinking water systems beginning May 7, 2025. Community water fluoridation has come under scrutiny in recent years due to concerns about its affect on children’s IQ.
Mississippi has become the third U.S. state to ban cell-based food products with the passage of House Bill 1006. As of July 1, 2025, it will be illegal to sell or distribute any cultivated food product in the state.
California Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel has introduced a bill that aims to define and identify “ultra-processed foods” so that they can be phased out of state public schools.
South Dakota has joined the list of states with legislation targeting cell-based meat, which includes Florida and Alabama, by recently passing a law that prohibits the award or use of state funds for the research, production, promotion, sale, or distribution of cell-cultured protein.
Arizona House Bill 2164, aiming to ban 11 chemicals and colorants, has passed the state House and has moved onto the Senate. Similar bills are currently progressing in West Virginia and Texas.
Introduced by Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), the Senate Bill 667, named the Safer Shrimp Imports Act, would require FDA to ensure that food safety inspections for shrimp in importing countries meet standards equivalent to those upheld in the U.S.
