WV Senate passes bill banning artificial dyes in food, opponents say it’s overreach

The West Virginia Senate voted 31-2 to approve a bill that would ban the sale of foods containing a list of artificial dyes on Wednesday, March 5, 2025 in Charleston, W.Va. (Will Price | West Virginia Legislative Photography)

The Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill banning synthetic dyes in food after Republican lawmakers stressed that it would make food healthier for West Virginians, who have some of the worst health outcomes in the country. 

The measure, House Bill 2354, which already cleared the House, would prohibit the sale of any food product with certain types of yellow, blue, green and red dyes, including Red No. 40 that helps give candy its cherry red hue.

West Virginia is the first state in the country to pass a sweeping food dye ban; 11 other states are considering similar legislation.

Bill supporters, including Sen. Laura Wakim Chapman, R-Ohio, say the dyes are poisonous and unnecessary, while opponents of the measure, including food corporations, argue the Food and Drug Administration should regulate food — not state lawmakers. 

“This is probably the most important bill that we will vote on in our entire careers here,” Chapman said ahead of the Senate vote on the measure. “This will be the start of making our state and our children healthier.”

Chapman cited West Virginia’s high obesity rate and a lack of grocery stores as a reason to support the bill, saying it will make available food healthier for families and children. The bill’s sponsor, Del. Adam Burkhammer, R-Lewis, has linked the artificial dyes to hyperactivity and behavioral issues in children. 

“No more toxic colors, no more positioning ourselves or our children. Our health is not for sale,” Chapman said.

The Senate voted 31-2 to approve the bill after amending it to take effect in 2028. The House’s version included a 2027 effective date, and House members will have to accept the Senate’s change to the bill before it can go to the governor’s desk for signature. 

Sen. Jack Woodrum, R-Summers, and Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, voted against the bill.

Tarr said there wasn’t enough evidence, including a lack of FDA studies, showing the dyes were unsafe. Additionally, he felt the measure set a bad precedent for the state telling food manufacturers to operate differently than in other states. 

“I think that sets a terrible tone for if you’re going to come into a stable regulatory business environment in West Virginia,” he said. “The fact that we would come in and tell food manufacturers here that you have to now have a less competitive ability to manufacture foods here as compared to any other state is bad practice.”

The National Confectioners Association said that while food safety is top priority, the bill’s requirements would make food “significantly more expensive for and significantly less accessible to people in West Virginia in the current environment.”

“There is a role for state legislators and public health officials to play in the ongoing conversation about food additives, but — as we have been saying for years — FDA is the rightful national regulatory decision maker and leader in food safety,” the group said in a statement. 

Eleven other states have proposed legislation to ban different food dyes, and California has already banned synthetic dyes in school food. The federal government recently banned red dye No. 3 in food and beverages, which is set to take effect in 2027.

Sen. Jason Barrett, R-Berkeley, who sponsored a bill to ban artificial food dyes in school food, said that the FDA had not reevaluated the chemicals used in food dyes in decades.

“Opponents have said there will be no food on our shelves. This is bullying and scare tactics. This is false,” he said. “Aldi for example does not put synthetic dyes in any of their foods.”

Barrett continued, “There are bright red states like West Virginia that are tired of the federal government not holding corporations accountable for the poisonous chemicals they allow in our food supply.”