Latest news with #HB402
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Lee Zeldin to speak in Utah on 3 key ‘MAHA' bills Monday
U.S. Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin will join Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and top legislative leadership Monday in Salt Lake City to discuss 'Make America Healthy Again' legislation passed this last session. Three new laws on the Utah books will be addressed by these top picks in the health in President Donald Trump's administration who oversee health related issues such as food, drug safety clean water, ground contamination and more. Others slated to be in attendance at a location yet to be announced include House Speaker Mike Shultz, R-Hooper, Sen. Brady Brammer, House Majority Whip Karianne Lisonbee, and Reps. Stephanie Gricius and Kristen Chevrier, R-Highland. Perhaps the most sweeping bill impacting families is HB403, which prohibits the purchase of soda and candy using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP benefits in the state. It requires the state Department of Workforce Services to submit a waiver to the federal government regarding the purchase of those foods with the benefits by July 1. The original purpose of the food stamp program was to give individuals struggling to make ends meet 'greater spending power to purchase healthy, nutritious necessities, not to contribute to obesity, anxiety, depression and chronic illness,' Chevrier said in her introduction of the bill during the session. As soda is the most commonly purchased item with SNAP dollars, Chevrier is joining a wave of legislators in a dozen other states who are looking at health reform through food stamp restrictions. 'There is zero nutritional value in soft drinks or most candy,' Chevrier explained. 'We should also not use tax dollars to subsidize unhealthy food products that will lead to obesity and other physical and mental health outcomes for which the state will likely end up footing the bill.' The Senate sponsor of the measure was Brammer, R-Pleasant Grove. HB402 passed in the 2025 session dealing with food additives in schools. Cox signed the bill March 27 that prohibits schools from offering food that contains seven food dyes as well as potassium bromate and propylparaben. Food dyes, particularly Red Dye No. 40, has been linked to cancer in laboratory tests for decades. The use of synthetic food dyes in general can result in hyperactivity and other neurobehavioral problems in some children. Potassium bromate is a white powder or crystal added to flour but is classified as a potential cancer-causing agent. The Environmental Working Group says it has been banned in several countries, including Brazil, Canada, the European Union and the United Kingdom. Despite health concerns, it is legal for use in the United States and has not been reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration since the early '70s. Its use is pervasive because it makes dough rise higher and strengthens it. EWG says it is found in more than 130 products. Propylparaben comes from the family of parabens, a category of substances used as preservatives, mostly in cosmetics, foodstuffs and medicines. Due to efficiency of action and cost-effectiveness, parabens have become popular in manufacturing several consumer products. They are, however, equally countered by their negative aspects due to potential harmful impacts on human health, which include altered endocrine activity, carcinogenesis, infertility, obesity and hypersensitivity, along with their psychological and ecological effects, according to Science of the Total Environment. They are classified as endocrine-disrupting compounds that can fuel respiratory, cardiac, reproductive, metabolic and carcinogenic issues. The major problems with context to the application of paraben in consumer products are their ability to mimic endogenous hormones, including potential interactions, such as the HER2 pathway, which is crucial for the growth of breast cancer cells. They are widely used as preservatives in common products such as cosmetics, body lotion and even laundry soap — leading to water contamination. Another contentious bill was HB81, sponsored by Gricius, R-Eagle Mountain. With the governor's signature of the measure, Utah became the first state in the country to ban the introduction of fluoride into public drinking water systems. Like food dyes and a host of other potential problematic substances, Kennedy has been a steadfast opponent of the use of supplemental fluoride in water. In a social media post, Kennedy vowed to have fluoride removed from public drinking water systems. The fluoride added to drinking water systems in Davis and Salt Lake counties — approved by voters more than two decades ago — is derived from hydrofluorosidic acid. In its concentrated form it is a waste byproduct derived from phosphate mining operations and contains lead, chromium and arsenic. A federal judge in September concluded its addition to drinking water presented an unacceptable risk to young children due to its impact on neurological development. It has been linked to lower IQ in young children. Gricius' bill leaves open for parents and other consumers the ability to purchase fluoride tablets from a pharmacy without a prescription. When fluoride was first introduced on a massive scale in the United States in public drinking water, it was before it was added to toothpaste and mouthwash. Critics have since complained how easy it becomes to have higher than safe doses of the element when it is added to drinking water. While naturally occurring in water, fluoride in drinking water left a bad taste in the mouth of hundreds of Sandy City residents after an accidental overfeed in 2019. Utah Poison Control records contained in a state summary show it handled 316 cases possibly linked to the fluoride overfeed, with 163 of those cases followed to a known outcome. Fluoride was detected at 40 times the federal limit after the release, and two weeks of free blood testing for lead showed one person with elevated levels, according to Salt Lake County health officials. An independent investigation by a law firm blasted how local government and the state handled their response to the exposure. Dental and medical associations loudly opposed the bill, arguing that fluoridated water systems are the most effective way to prevent dental decay. They lobbied Cox hard to veto the bill, but he signed it March 27.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
RFK Jr. coming to Utah on Monday to talk fluoride, ‘MAHA' bills
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a campaign rally for Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump at Macomb Community College on Nov. 01, 2024 in Warren, Michigan. (Photo by) Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is coming to Utah. Utah becomes the first state to ban adding fluoride to drinking water Kennedy — along with Lee Zeldin, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — will be coming to Salt Lake City on Monday to hold a news conference to discuss 'MAHA legislation' passed by the 2025 Utah Legislature, state officials announced in a news release issued Thursday. That includes HB81, which made Utah the first state in the nation to ban adding fluoride to public water systems. State leaders also called out two other bills they expect to highlight Monday, including HB402, which bans public schools from serving food with certain food dyes in them and other additives, and HB403, which restricts Utahns from using SNAP benefits to purchase candy and soda. Republican Utah lawmakers including House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, are expected to join Kennedy and Zeldin for Monday's news conference. Other lawmakers slated to attend include House Majority Whip Karianne Lisonbee, R-Clearfield; Sen. Brady Brammer, R-Pleasant Grove; Rep. Stephanie Gricius, R-Provo, and Rep. Kristen Chevrier, R-Highland. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Utah lawmakers turn focus on products put in food
Three different bills focused on what products are inside the food consumed by people in Utah were discussed in committees in the Utah Legislature on Wednesday. These bills focus on food products sold in stores and also what food is served in Utah's public schools. These bills relate to the recent 'Make America Healthy Again,' or MAHA, movement from President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. MAHA primarily focuses on the pharmaceutical and food industries and what products are being put into food and medicines. Last week, Trump issued an executive order to create a MAHA commission which will be chaired by Kennedy and will also include the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Education and other government officials. The commission will be focusing on 'the childhood chronic disease crisis' and its purpose will be to study any potential contributing causes to these diseases 'including the American diet, absorption of toxic material, medical treatments, lifestyle, environmental factors, government policies, food production techniques, electromagnetic radiation, and corporate influence or cronyism,' according to the order. Going along with the MAHA idea, these three Utah bills focus on what products are in foods in Utah, making sure this food is properly labeled and informing people of what they are putting into their bodies. These bills haven't been specifically linked to MAHA but they follow the ideas of the movement. The bills originated in the House and all have different sponsors. Sponsored by Rep. Kristen Chevrier, R-Highland, HB402 would prohibit certain ingredients from being served in public schools. The bill would ban 'ultraprocessed' foods, which include the following ingredients: brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben, titanium dioxide, blue dye 1, blue dye 2, green dye 3, red dye 3, red dye 40, yellow dye 5 and yellow dye 6. Foods containing these ingredients could not be sold or served on school grounds during normal school days. If the bill passes, the requirements would start for the 2026-2027 school year. The bill would not prevent parents or guardians from giving their children food with these ingredients, just the schools themselves. HB138, sponsored by Rep. Neil Walter, R-St. George, would require foods containing cultivated meat products to be labeled clearly. Cultivated meat products are food products produced by cultivating or culturing an animal cell in vitro. The bill also requires food containing insect or plant based meat substitutes to be labeled clearly. These food products must include a notification of these products on a label that can be clearly seen by consumers. Walter said that other states have made moves to ban or restrict these products but that is not what this bill would do. HB138 is simply about informing consumers about the product they are consuming. The bill's sponsor compared these labels to like when you go to the store and choose between imitation crab and real crab. Sponsored by Trevor Lee, R-Layton, HB84 has to do with vaccines, specifically vaccines that are found in certain foods. During the committee hearing Lee shared that different pharmaceutical groups have started putting vaccines in food instead of injecting people with the vaccines. HB84 is meant to prepare for when receiving vaccines through ingesting food becomes more popular and common. This bill clarifies that if vaccines are put in food it has to be classified as a drug and not just as food. So if this vaccine filled food was sold in grocery stores it would be placed on the pharmaceutical side and not with the food. Lee said that other states across the country have passed similar legislation pertaining to vaccines in food.
