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Diving overview:
- A federal court has temporarily halted West Virginia’s ban on artificial dyes in food and beverages, siding with dye manufacturers who argued the law was unconstitutionally vague.
- The ruling pauses a landmark law set to restrict seven artificial colors statewide on Jan. 1, 2028. This decision does not affect the ban on school lunch dyes, which already took effect in August 2025.
- West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrissey said in a statement to X that the court’s decision was “premature and wrong.” He added that the province was reviewing its legal options but would continue efforts “to remove harmful waste from our food supply.”
Dive Insights:
West Virginia’s ruling could pour cold water on the growing “Make America Healthy Again” movement among states that has led to the introduction of dozens of laws restricting artificial dyes and other ingredients.
Last March, West Virginia became the first state in the country to ban the sale of foods containing artificial dyes, prompting similar laws across the country. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also called on the food industry to remove artificial colors from the food supply by the end of the year, although this was a voluntary request.
As more states seek to pass their own restrictions, the food industry is beginning to advocate and support a single national standard. Color manufacturers filed a lawsuit against West Virginia in October seeking to invalidate the state law, and industry trade groups took a similar action against Texas last month.
A West Virginia judge said in his ruling that he amended a decades-old food safety law to say artificial dyes are “poisonous and harmful” to consumers, but failed to explain why the substances are harmful. As a result, this opens the door for countries to arbitrarily ban additional artificial dyes or other ingredients they deem a health risk.
The MAHA movement is part of its campaign against ultra-processed foods and focuses on artificial dyes, which it claims are linked to hyperactivity and cancer in children. But because these colors have been deemed safe by the FDA, the judge in the West Virginia case said banning them without justification would “muddy the waters and create confusion about which substances are now considered ‘poisonous and noxious'” under state food safety laws.
In a client note, law firm Kelley Drye said companies “should not assume this issue has been resolved.”
“While the injunction delays enforcement, fundamental legal and regulatory uncertainties remain,” the company said. “Companies should closely monitor litigation and prepare for potential consequences, including reinstatement of the ban or changes to the law.”
