As State Seeks to Ban Harmful Food Dyes, Lobbyists Intervene
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As State Seeks to Ban Harmful Food Dyes, Lobbyists Intervene
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 Virginiaās 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 opposeĀ 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.
NewlyĀ mintedĀ Health and Human Services SecretaryĀ Robert F. Kennedy Jr.Ā 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.
āI donāt think that they really care about what West Virginia does,ā state senator Jason Barrett, who sponsored the senateās version of the bill, told the Daily Caller.Ā āI think they care about the message that West Virginia is sending to the rest of the country, that weāre willing to have the courage and weāre willing to be the first one to ban these harmful synthetic food dyes.ā
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 houseās version of the bill to delay the ban by a year, setting the banās 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 stateās governor, Republican Patrick Morrisey, asked West Virginiaās 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 …
āItās frustrating because we have a new governor, heās very Trump, MAGA. He supports the MAHA agenda but he is being worked over by the beverage association,ā 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 Virginiaās capital, Charleston, since the billās passage. …
The lobbyists have been threatening lawmakers with job losses and barren grocery store shelves.
āThe natural result will be empty store shelves and sky-high grocery prices,ā 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. …
Swannās email claimed that 60% of grocery store items in the state would disappear. …
The billās primary sponsor, State Rep. Adam Burkhammer, pushed back on that notion, as well as the idea that the state would lose jobs.
āI believe both of those are false,ā he told the Caller. āWe are going to continue to manufacture foods for years to come, weāre just going to remove these ingredients and weāre going to create a little healthier product for our citizens.ā …
Burkhammer called the ingredients āpoison,ā which an Americans for Food and Beverage Choice spokesperson rebutted.
āAll of these products have been approved, passed regulatory muster in the US and, for the most part, in Canada and the EU as well,ā the spokesperson told the Caller. …
While the EU does allow the majority of chemicals on HB 2354ās list to be sold, all foods which contain Yellow 5, Red 40, and Yellow No. 6 require a warning label stating they āmay have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.ā
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,Ā accordingĀ to Herox.
āMy question to them is, why arenāt the kids of West Virginia as important as the kids in Europe?ā Senator Barrett asked. āHow do they deserve less?ā …
What do you think of this bill? Share your thoughts and prayers below.
(Excerpt from Daily Caller. Photo Credit: Graham Walker/Pexels)
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Lord we pray that You’d shed light and remove all harmful ingredients from our food supply. We pray that lobbyists would not be able to scare, bribe or threaten law makers into keeping these harmful ingredients in our food. Give law makers in West Virginia a firm resolve to do what is right despite what the food lobby says.