West Virginia seems poised to become the first state in the nation to ban harmful dyes in food. As the bill awaits its final steps, lobbyists have descended upon the state’s capital to intervene.

From Daily Caller. Lobbyists from the American Beverage Association (ABA) descended on West Virginia’s state Capitol building Tuesday in an attempt to thwart a bill that would ban synthetic food dyes, lawmakers told the Daily Caller.

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National lobbyists, who rarely, if ever, show up to Charleston, came out in full force to oppose HB 2354, which would ban the in-state sale of any food products containing Red 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2 and Green 3.

Newly minted Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has lambasted the synthetic dyes and touted studies which show the dyes are linked to negative neurobehavioral outcomes in children.

… West Virginia appears poised to become the first state to enact sweeping legislation to ban nearly all synthetic dyes, though not before the lobbyists have their say.

“I don’t think that they really care about what West Virginia does,” state senator Jason Barrett, who sponsored the senate’s version of the bill, told the Daily Caller. “I think they care about the message that West Virginia is sending to the rest of the country, that we’re willing to have the courage and we’re willing to be the first one to ban these harmful synthetic food dyes.”

The legislature passed the bill by a large margin on March 4. Out of 100 state house delegates, 93 voted in favor, as did 31 of 34 senators.

The senate amended the house’s version of the bill to delay the ban by a year, setting the ban’s start date at January 1, 2028.

Typically after the state senate amends a bill as they did last Wednesday, the house would take it up the next day to concur, state Rep. Evan Worrell, who chairs the West Virginia House Health and Human Resources Committee, told the Daily Caller.

However, the House held the bill from concurrence last Thursday, then again on Friday.

The state’s governor, Republican Patrick Morrisey, asked West Virginia’s house speaker, Roger Hanshaw, to sit on the bill, Worrell told the Caller. …

A spokesperson for West Virginia House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, however, denied that claim …

“It’s frustrating because we have a new governor, he’s very Trump, MAGA. He supports the MAHA agenda but he is being worked over by the beverage association,” Worrell explained.

ABA, who represent PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and a plurality of other non-alcoholic beverages and soft drink corporations in America, have had national representation in West Virginia’s capital, Charleston, since the bill’s passage. …

The lobbyists have been threatening lawmakers with job losses and barren grocery store shelves.

“The natural result will be empty store shelves and sky-high grocery prices,” West Virginia Beverage Association (WVBA) president Larry Swann told legislators in an email obtained by the Daily Caller. …

Swann, Worrell noted, had hardly ever made his presence in the capital known, until now. …

Swann’s email claimed that 60% of grocery store items in the state would disappear. …

The bill’s primary sponsor, State Rep. Adam Burkhammer, pushed back on that notion, as well as the idea that the state would lose jobs.

“I believe both of those are false,” he told the Caller. “We are going to continue to manufacture foods for years to come, we’re just going to remove these ingredients and we’re going to create a little healthier product for our citizens.” …

Burkhammer called the ingredients “poison,” which an Americans for Food and Beverage Choice spokesperson rebutted.

“All of these products have been approved, passed regulatory muster in the US and, for the most part, in Canada and the EU as well,” the spokesperson told the Caller. …

While the EU does allow the majority of chemicals on HB 2354’s list to be sold, all foods which contain Yellow 5, Red 40, and Yellow No. 6 require a warning label stating they “may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.”

Rather than slap the labels on their products, companies that do business in both the US and the EU, like McDonalds, Kraft and Kellogg, have opted to adopt natural coloring for the European market, according to Herox.

“My question to them is, why aren’t the kids of West Virginia as important as the kids in Europe?” Senator Barrett asked. “How do they deserve less?” …

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(Excerpt from Daily Caller. Photo Credit: Graham Walker/Pexels)