Latest news with #ArizonaHealthySchoolsAct
Fox News
10-03-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Food safety in focus at RFK Jr. meeting as MAHA influencers urge safeguarding of America
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. met with food industry leaders on Monday for a roundtable discussion in Washington, D.C. Representatives from Kraft Heinz, General Mills, Tyson Foods, WK Kellogg Co, The J.M. Smucker Company and PepsiCo, along with Consumer Brands, were all present at the meeting. Secretary Kennedy announced the meeting on X, posting, "Great discussion today … advancing food safety and radical transparency to protect the health of all Americans, especially our children." "We will strengthen consumer trust by getting toxins out of our food. Let's Make America Healthy Again," the post added. Consumer Brands Association President and CEO Melissa Hockstad also issued a statement announcing the meeting at HHS. "Today, industry leaders met with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to discuss his Make America Healthy Again agenda and working together to maintain consumer access to safe, affordable and convenient product choices," said Hockstad. "It's time for major food companies to prioritize public health over profit by embracing real, whole-food ingredients." "It was a constructive conversation, and we look forward to continued engagement with the secretary and the qualified experts within HHS to support public health, build consumer trust and promote consumer choice," she added. While the specific topics of discussion have not been confirmed, the food industry as a whole has been a target of RFK Jr.'s since the initial launch of his presidential campaign. "Food Babe" and Truvani founder Vani Hari told Fox News Digital that bringing everyone together is "the first step to any realistic change." "Bringing [food industry's] biggest lobbying firm with them, the Consumer Brands Association … they're going to be ready to recommend some of these changes, because they can't stop the state legislation that's happening across the board," said Hari, who is based in North Carolina. "We have 30 different states looking at legislation," she added. West Virginia recently passed statewide legislation banning food dyes and preservatives. The preservatives butylated hydroxyanisole and propylparaben — as well as dyes Blue No. 1 and 2, Green No. 3, Red No. 3 and 40, and Yellow No. 5 and 6 — will all be banned once the bill is signed by Governor Patrick Morrisey. In February, the Arizona House of Representatives passed the Arizona Healthy Schools Act, which bans ultraprocessed foods containing harmful additives from being served in public school meals. While grocery shopping, Hari said she hopes Americans pick one-ingredient products and peruse the middle aisles with scrutiny. "You want to avoid things you don't recognize, chemical names that you know aren't real food, because that's a massive experiment to your body," she noted. MAHA influencer and cancer survivor Liana Werner-Gray told Fox News Digital the meeting is a critical step toward addressing the root causes of chronic disease in America. "The overuse of harmful food additives, artificial dyes, inflammatory seed oils and glyphosate contamination has contributed to rising health issues, including obesity, diabetes, cancer and behavioral disorders," she said. "It's time for major food companies to prioritize public health over profit by embracing real, whole-food ingredients. Consumers are demanding change, and the industry must listen," Werner-Gray added. Fox News Digital reached out to HHS for comment.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Arizona State House passes bill that bans certain ultraprocessed food from schools
The Brief HB2164, also known as "Arizona Healthy Schools Act," was passed by lawmakers at the Arizona State Legislature. The bill aims to ban schools from serving, selling, or allowing a third party to sell food on campus that contains a number of chemicals. PHOENIX - A bill to ban certain chemicals and food dyes in Arizona school lunches is now before the State Senate. What we know The bill, known as HB2164 or the "Arizona Healthy Schools Act," aims to ban what the bill calls "ultraprocessed food" by barring schools that take part in a federally funded or assisted meal program from serving, selling, or allowing a third party to sell food on school campus that include: Potassium Bromate Propylparaben Titanium dioxide Brominated vegetable oil Yellow Dye #5 Yellow Dye #6 Blue Dye #1 Blue Dye #2 Green Dye #3 Red Dye #3 Red Dye #40 If the bill is approved, it will take effect during the 2026-2027 school year. The bill specifically states that it does not ban a student's parent or guardian from providing ultraprocessed food to the student during a normal school day. "We know through studies, through large studies, that these things can affect children," said Intracare family physician Dr. Andrew J. Caroll. Dr. Carroll said certain kinds of additives can negatively impact children. What Dr. Carroll Said "We know that children's activities, whether they are overly active or whether they are overly sluggish, is really directly related to what they are bringing into their bodies, so we should be making that as clean as possible," said Dr. Carroll. Dig deeper HB2164 bill was introduced after similar legislation was passed in California. Per the Associated Press, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that banned Red Dye #3, Brominated vegetable oil, Potassium bromate and Propylparaben. Gov. Newsom said in a signing statement that the additives addressed in the bill are already banned in various other countries. All four chemicals are already banned in foods in the European Union. HB2164 was also introduced after the FDA banned Red Dye #3. Food manufacturers will have until January 2027 to remove the dye from their products, while makers of ingested drugs have until January 2028 to do the same. As for HB2164, the bill's sponsor said it all started with a trip to italy. "You're eating pizza, pasta. You're eating all the things that are bad here if you ate those every day, and I still felt great," said State Rep. Leo Bissiucci (R-District 30) "When I was looking at the labels, I noticed in Europe they didn't have all these additives, all these extra things that we have in our food." The bill has support from Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne. "I think physical health is a precondition to everything else," said Supt. Horne. "In our country, there are 10,000 elements that are allowed in our food. In Europe, it is only 400. So it's easy if we say this is not allowed in the food for the manufacturers to substitute, because they are already doing it in Europe." What's next The bill needs to be passed by lawmakers at the State Senate before it heads to Governor Katie Hobbs' desk.
Fox News
06-02-2025
- Health
- Fox News
Ban of harmful school lunch ingredients urged by MAHA supporters with new law proposal
A bill in Arizona is seeking to make school lunches healthy again by banning ultra-processed food. House Bill 2164, titled the Arizona Healthy Schools Act, was introduced by Representative Leo Biasiucci and inspired by RFK Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. The bill would ban any food that contains potassium bromate, propylparaben, titanium dioxide, brominated vegetable oil, yellow dyes 5 and 6, blue dyes 1 and 2, green dye 3, and red dyes 3 and 40. "The legislature finds that ultra-processed, industrially manufactured, nutrient-depleted food with synthetic additives is undernourishing minors at public schools and contributing to childhood obesity," the bill reads. Adding, "Any taxpayer-funded meal or snack program offered to minors at public schools in this state should be nutritious and made primarily of whole, minimally processed plant or animal products." On Tuesday, a "Cut the Chemicals" press conference was held at the Arizona Department of Education (AZDE) hosted by Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne. At the presser, Rep. Biasiucci, along with wellness advocates and supporters of the bill, gathered to share the importance of advancing the bill in Arizona. Biasiucci told Fox News Digital that the idea for the bill was sparked while in Italy visiting his family last summer. "[I] realized that even after eating pizza, pasta, bread, cheese and ice cream almost daily, I still felt great. I started to then look at the ingredients in the foods and noticed they didn't have all the dyes and chemicals we had in our foods," said Biasiucci. He added, "Sometimes, these foods even came from companies that provide the same product in both the United States and in Europe. It was at that moment I knew I had to do something." Biasiucci said the "Make America Healthy Again" movement has absolutely impacted his legislative agenda, and that the support of this bill has been incredible. Calley Means, an advocate for healthcare reform, focusing on the intersection of food, policy and chronic disease, said these food colorings are crude oil. "They are unambiguously connected to mass behavioral and neurological issues for kids. These are not allowed in any other developed country in the world…we have a food industry that's addicting kids and rigging lives," said Means. Means added, "from the food industry standpoint, the largest fast food restaurant in America is school lunches." From 2017 to March 2020, 22.2% of adolescents 12–19 were diagnosed with obesity, according to the CDC. And from 2015 to 2018, 28.2% of teens were diagnosed with prediabetes, according to JAMA Pediatrics. Diana Diaz-Harrison, Arizona Autism Charter Schools executive director and an autism mom, saiit is sad for her to see what is currently served as school lunches. "I honestly don't feel good about feeding the kids that lunch and that breakfast every single day because it is honestly something that I myself would not eat, nor would I give my child," said Diaz-Harrison. Actor and comedian Rob Schneider was also in attendance at the press conference. For more Health articles, visit "We can get the farmer's market and get the chefs to help, and we want to encourage the schools and the parents [to] get involved. It can be a community thing where it leaves the schools, and then it becomes part of the parents, becomes part of the lifestyle," said Schneider. Schneider added, "I got two kids here in Arizona, and I love this state. And the passion here today was fantastic." HB 2164 will head to the floor of the Arizona House of Representatives for a full House vote.
