Governor Morrisey signs food dye ban into law
According to a press release, on Monday, March 24, 2025, House Bill 2354, which prevents harmful food dyes from being an ingredient in food items and school lunches across the Mountain State, was signed into law by Governor Patrick Morrisey.
West Virginia House votes down vaccine exemption bill
West Virginia ranks at the bottom of many public health metrics, which is why there's no better place to lead the Make America Healthy Again mission. By eliminating harmful chemicals from our food, we're taking steps toward improving the health of our residents and protecting our children from significant long-term health and learning challenges.
Thank you to the Legislature, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and the entire Trump Administration for helping us launch this movement right here in West Virginia.
Today's announcement represents a step toward a productive dialogue about how West Virginia and our country can eat healthier and address some of the vexing health care problems facing our citizens.
Through the implementation process, I look forward to advancing policies which improve our health care outcomes, maintain our jobs, and respect the FDA's and supply channel's role in the process.
Governor Morrisey
What foods would go away if West Virginia bans certain food dye?
The food additives that the law deems unsafe and prevents them from being used in meals served as a part of a school nutrition program starting August 1, 2025 includes:
Red Dye No. 3
Red Dye No. 40
Yellow Dye No. 5
Yellow Dye No. 6
Blue Dye No. 1
Blue Dye No. 2
Green Dye No. 3
The press release stated that the dyes, as well as preservatives butylated hydroxyanisole and propylparaben, cannot be a part of food items or drugs for sale in West Virginia starting on January 1, 2028, which is meant to give companies time to adjust and protect customers from price increases.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
43 minutes ago
- The Hill
FDA may pull authorization for Pfizer COVID shot for kids under 5
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering revoking the authorization of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for healthy children under 5 years old, the company confirmed Wednesday. The move would add another barrier for parents who want to vaccinate healthy children, as shots from Moderna and Novavax were approved for more limited populations. In May, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children or pregnant women. The CDC then updated its immunization schedule to reflect that children with no underlying health condition 'may receive' COVID-19 vaccines after consulting with a health care provider — what's known as 'shared decision-making.' If FDA pulls its emergency use authorization, Pfizer's vaccine would no longer be available to any children younger than 5. Right now, Moderna and Novavax shots could be administered 'off label' to healthy children. 'We are currently in discussions with the agency on potential paths forward and have requested that the EUA for this age group remain in place for the 2025-2026 season,' a Pfizer spokesman told The Hill. 'It is important to note that these deliberations are not related to the safety and efficacy of the vaccine which continues to demonstrate a favorable profile,' the company added. The Guardian first reported on the FDA's potential move. In a statement to The Hill, HHS said it wouldn't comment on potential changes. 'The COVID-19 pandemic ended with the expiration of the federal public health emergency in May 2023. We do not comment on potential, future regulatory changes. Unless officially announced by HHS, discussion about future agency action should be regarded as pure speculation,' HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said. Pfizer has had full FDA approval for its COVID-19 vaccine for individuals age 12 and older since 2022.
Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
Defend Public Health Releases Alternative To RFK Jr.'s 'MAHA' Agenda
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 22: U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talks about a new Make America Healthy Again Commission report in the East Room of the White House on May 22, 2025 in Washington, DC. The commission, which is tasked with studying the potential causes for the "childhood chronic disease crisis," recommends reassessing the nation's childhood vaccine schedule, scrutinizing ultra-processed foods and studying pesticides used in commercial farming. The Trump administration has proposed a FY2026 budget of $94 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services — a reduction of about 26-percent from the 2025 level — cutting programs and staff at the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Photo by) Getty Images Robert F. Kennedy, Jr's Make America Healthy Again report was due to be released on August 12, by executive order. The release has been delayed due to scheduling difficulties. Kennedy plans to reveal is strategy for addressing the root causes of the health problems he sees facing America — poor nutrition and ultra-processed food, inactivity, pesticide and chemical use, and children receiving too many medicines and vaccines. Kennedy outlined these in the spring 'MAHA Report.' Per Politico, the Trump administration is already receiving pushback from competing factions—those concerned about pesticide use, for example, and agricultural groups not wanting them limited. Similarly, the food industry is prepared for limits on food dyes, but is concerned about added targets. Defend Public Health, a grassroots volunteer group of thousands of healthcare providers, scientists, advocates and allies, has just issued its own report, Improving the Health of Americans Together: An evidence-based framework for addressing the root causes of illness in the U.S. The IHAT report, prepared by members of DPH's Coordinating Committee, covers an array of science-based strategies designed to counter many of the distortions from Kennedy Jr. They cover a wide range of topics including nutrition and physical activity, from a broader, public health and science perspective. For example, 'food' includes nutrition, food safety, and cuts to inspections under this administration, and access to healthy foods when there are so many food deserts. Kennedy rails against ultra-processed grains, sugars, and fats, which he says account for over two-thirds of calories in a child's diet. He says this 'may play a significant role in childhood obesity, type 2 diabetes, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.' After pressure from Kennedy, who said that 'sugar is poison,' Coca-Cola is changing to sweetening its cola with cane sugar rather than high-fructose corn syrup, a move that nutritionists say won't provide significant benefit. Kennedy similarly has gone after dyes in Froot Loops and other foods. Elizabeth Jacobs, a retired epidemiologist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Arizona, put this brouhaha over Kennedy's choices in perspective saying, "Why are we talking about dyes in Froot Loops or cane sugar in Coca Cola while the Trump Administration is cutting SNAP benefits, and 13 million children don't know where their next meal is coming from?" Thomas Galligan, principal scientist for food additives and supplements at the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest told ''We're hearing all this rhetoric from RFK Jr. about how he wants to fix the food system, but then he's making massive cuts within HHS and FDA that will directly impede his ability to fix the food system.' Strengthening pandemic preparedness is essential for our future. Yet Kennedy has falsely said that mRNA vaccines 'fail to protect effectively' against COVID-19 and are unsafe. He promoted a 'let 'er rip' approach to bird flu in poultry and cancelled a $760 million contract with Moderna for a human bird flu vaccine. We have no vaccine and are left totally unprotected should bird flu infect more people. The MAHA report expresses concern over the number of vaccines children receive. As the IHAT report notes, children were not previously 'healthy.' In fact, 'statistics on childhood mortality show that, despite real problems, our children are vastly more likely to live to adulthood today than they were 75 years or more ago.' The IHAT report describes the MAHA report section on vaccines as 'particularly duplicitous and egregious.' Some of Kennedy's actions against vaccines will greatly harm millions of people, especially children. He has removed the COVID-19 vaccination from the CDC's recommended immunization list for healthy children, despite it causing MIS and long Covid in many. Similarly, pregnant women are not able to get a COVID-19 vaccine, although they are at high risk of death or miscarriage from infection. Kennedy has removed the seventeen experts on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, replacing them with an anti-vaccine cadre of seven mostly unqualified individuals. Similarly, he has planned to fire all sixteen members of the United States Preventive Services Task Force. As Jacobs and Miranda Xaver, an assistant professor of Health Policy and Management at the University of Pittsburgh, note in a new Op-Ed in The Hill, 'Under the Affordable Care Act, the recommendations of both of these committees are required to be covered by private health insurance, as well as, in some cases, Medicaid and Medicare.' For now, the ACA must cover recommended vaccines and cancer screenings. By gutting these two committees, Kennedy will be able to severely weaken the ACA, something the Republicans have thus far not been able to do legislatively. Last month, Kennedy said he was going to overhaul the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Some have concerns that weakening the protections will drive manufacturers out of the vaccine business. This week, the prestigious Annals of Internal Medicine medical journal published a large Danish study that looked at 1.2 million Danish children over two decades and found no increased risk from vaccines containing aluminum and no increase in autoimmune, atopic or allergic, or neurodevelopmental disorders. Kennedy challenged these findings on Trial Site News, which is rated as 'a strong Pseudoscience source' by Media Bias/Fact Check based on 'promoting misleading and false claims regarding Covid-19 vaccines.' He 'described the research as 'a deceitful propaganda stunt by the pharmaceutical industry,'' and demanded the journal retract the study, which they have refused to do. This type of demand — essentially censorship of an independent medical journal—was previously unheard of. But Kennedy has also proposed banning federal scientists from publishing in journals he doesn't like, although they are leading journals (e.g., Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA). In terms of Kennedy and vaccines, there is so much to write—from his fueling the measles epidemic by his anti-vax statements, to this week's shooting at the CDC. The assailant, Patrick White, 'reportedly motivated by anti-vaccine beliefs, fired more than 180 rounds at the Atlanta headquarters campus.' White reportedly blamed the Covid vaccine for his health problems. Kennedy had described the vaccine as the deadliest vaccine ever made. While exercise is important in both reports, DPH stresses that the social determinants of health—the economic and social factors, often related to poverty and discrimination--make exercise nearly impossible for millions. Other topics in the IHAT report range from improving access to vaccines and health care, including medical, dental, and sexual and reproductive health care, to clean air. Pollution is a major contributor to asthma, chronic lung diseases, and cancer. Combatting scientific misinformation from the government and social media is a growing concern. As the government is scrubbing websites, formerly reliable sources of information have disappeared. Guns are the leading cause of death for children and teens, yet Kennedy didn't even mention gun violence in last spring's MAHA report. Reducing gun violence in the country is critical in improving our physical and mental health. Other countries have achieved this; our politicians lack the will to do so. Defend Public Health's IHAT report is thoroughly researched and extensively referenced, a model for what a health planning report should look like. They don't hold back, stating, 'The HHS Secretary must be a person who respects expertise and has the humility to listen to scientists and healthcare professionals who provide critical analysis of health strategies for Americans. All of the 17 dismissed members of ACIP should be reinstated, and the unqualified members of the committee appointed by Kennedy should be permanently removed. Further, all members of USPSTF should be returned to their roles.' Defend Public Health concludes, 'Secretary Kennedy is a threat to the health of every person in the United States. He must resign or be removed from office in order to improve the health of Americans together.'
Politico
3 hours ago
- Politico
Long Covid's lingering financial side effects
LONG COVID'S TOLL — More than five years after the Covid-19 pandemic first ravaged the nation, many Americans are still dealing with the social and economic fallout of having contracted the disease. People with long Covid — those who have new or persistent symptoms lasting three months past infection — have experienced worse financial and employment outcomes, lasting up to three years after their initial infection, compared with people who haven't had the disease, according to a study published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open from researchers at Rush University Medical Center, Yale School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and other research institutions. Long Covid patients reported worse work impairment, missed work and financial distress compared with those who never had Long Covid, the study found. Vaccination against Covid was associated with improved work and economic outcomes. Not just physical: 'While much of the focus in Long COVID research has been on the medical impact, we must also consider the sustained financial burden faced by those whose symptoms persist,' lead author Michael Gottlieb, an emergency medicine doctor and vice chair of research at Rush, said in a statement. Addressing the financial burden of long Covid might 'require policy interventions, such as expanded disability benefits or workplace accommodations to help combat the work and financial impact of this condition,' the authors wrote. The researchers analyzed self-reported data from more than 3,600 participants in the Innovative Support for Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infections Registry, a CDC-funded initiative aimed at better understanding Covid's long-term effects. Why it matters: About 6 percent of U.S. adults suffer from some form of long Covid, according to CDC estimates. The National Institutes of Health believes that as many as 23 million people have the illness, which can range in severity from mild to debilitating. The symptoms, which can include fatigue, headaches and brain fog, can be life-disrupting for many patients. Some treatments, like Paxlovid, have shown promise in reducing symptoms, but being diagnosed and finding suitable treatment can be difficult because of the disease's wide range of symptoms that often overlap with other conditions. HHS recently shut down its long Covid office, a casualty of the Trump administration's sweeping reorganization of the agency. At the time the closure was announced, an HHS employee who worked on long Covid and who was granted anonymity to share details of the move told POLITICO that abandoning work that could have cured the disease means the country's health care system will have to provide years, if not decades, of costly care for tens of millions of chronically ill people. In March, the Trump administration also canceled dozens of grants for long Covid projects, but some funding was restored after advocates fought back. WELCOME TO WEDNESDAY PULSE. I'm still reeling from Taylor Swift announcing her new album. Send your Swiftie theories, scoops and feedback to khooper@ and sgardner@ and follow along @kelhoops and @sophie_gardnerj. At the Agencies LOOMER'S LATEST PREY — After successfully ousting several members of Trump's administration for alleged insufficient loyalty, far-right activist and MAGA influencer Laura Loomer tells our colleagues at Playbook that she has her next target: Stefanie Spear, the principal deputy chief of staff and senior counselor to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The reason why, in part: 'I think that there's a clear intention by Stefanie Spear to utilize her position to try to lay the groundwork for a 2028 RFK presidential run,' Loomer alleges. Asked for comment by Playbook, a senior HHS official did not deny that Kennedy is weighing a presidential bid. Read the full story in this morning's Playbook. CDC LATEST — CDC officials held a tense all-hands meeting Tuesday in the aftermath of last week's shooting at the agency's Atlanta headquarters, Sophie reports with POLITICO's Amanda Friedman and Lauren Gardner. The meeting came as law enforcement officials revealed early Tuesday additional information about the nature of the shooting: The man who opened fire at the agency on Friday died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was motivated by his distrust of Covid-19 vaccines. Agency update: At the CDC's all-hands meeting, Director Susan Monarez thanked employees for their work and acknowledged that 'misinformation can be dangerous,' according to a live transcript obtained by POLITICO. 'In moments like this, we must meet the challenges with rational, evidence-based discourse spoken with compassion and understanding,' she said. 'That is how we will lead.' CDC employees were closely watching Monarez at the meeting to see how she would respond to the shooting and the news that the suspected shooter had expressed distrust of the Covid vaccine. Two CDC employees, granted anonymity to speak candidly, told POLITICO that Monarez's speech was not what they'd hoped. '[Twenty minutes] of reading off a teleprompter,' one of the employees said in a text, adding that Monarez's remarks prompted an 'overwhelmingly negative response from folks in my immediate orbit.' Another agency employee said the meeting was in stark contrast to a separate meeting held for the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases staff on Saturday, where employees could ask Monarez questions. What's next: HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said that staff would have 'continued opportunities' to voice their perspectives to CDC leadership in the days ahead. 'Friday's shooting was a traumatic event for the agency, and leadership is working to provide continued updates along with resources for healing and recovery,' Nixon said in a statement. DOGE SAVINGS — The Trump administration has drastically exaggerated how much money it has saved through DOGE-related cuts to federal contracts, including at health agencies, according to an analysis of public data and federal spending records from POLITICO's Jessie Blaeser. Through July, DOGE said it had saved taxpayers $52.8 billion by canceling contracts, but of the $32.7 billion in actual claimed contract savings that POLITICO could verify, DOGE's savings over that period were closer to $1.4 billion. Despite the administration's claims, none of that $1.4 billion will lower the federal deficit unless Congress steps in. Instead, the money has been returned to agencies mandated by law to spend it. The health claims: Under the VA, DOGE's wall of receipts reported savings of $932 million from contracts canceled through June, including awards for a cancer registry, suicide-prevention services and other health care support. Federal records show the VA recovered just $132 million from the awards, or less than 15 percent of what DOGE claimed, and that the VA reinstated the contract for suicide-prevention support. One of DOGE's largest savings claims is from a canceled contract for a shelter in Pecos, Texas, to house unaccompanied migrant children. In a post on social media platform X in February, DOGE said HHS 'paid ~$18M/month' to keep the now-empty center open. Canceling the agreement, it said, would translate to more than $215 million in annual savings for taxpayers. By the time the contract was added to the DOGE termination list, that savings claim skyrocketed to $2.9 billion. But HHS and its Office of Refugee Resettlement were not on track to spend anywhere close to the contract's $3.3 billion ceiling. WHAT WE'RE READING POLITICO's Tyler Katzenberger reports on a federal judge blocking the Trump administration from using Medicaid beneficiaries' personal data for immigration enforcement purposes. Bloomberg Law's Celine Castronuovo reports on Texas' attorney general accusing Eli Lilly of unlawfully pushing providers to prescribe its blockbuster obesity drugs and other treatments to receive Medicaid payments.
