Texas Also Enacts Bans on Certain Ingredients in School Meals; Similar Louisiana Bill Progresses
Yesterday, Texas governor Greg Abbott signed into law S.B. 25, which requires food products containing any of 40+ specified ingredients to bear a warning label. This follows Texas’s enactment of S.B. 314 in late May, which prohibits Texas school districts and open-enrollment charter schools from providing free or reduced-price meals that contain any of 17+ specified ingredients. As of the date of this writing, Louisiana S.B. 14, which would impose (1) disclosure requirements for any food product sold in the state that contains specified ingredients, and (2) a ban on the use of certain ingredients in school meals, is sitting on the governor’s desk. It will become law if he signs it or takes no action by June 25. These actions are part of a larger trend of increased scrutiny of food and color additives, as we previously reported and which is a significant feature of the Make America Healthy Again (“MAHA”) Commission’s Assessment released on May 22, 2025.
Texas S.B. 25
S.B. 25 requires human food products containing any of 40+ specified ingredients to bear the following warning label: “WARNING: This product contains an ingredient that is not recommended for human consumption by the appropriate authority in Australia, Canada, the European Union, or the United Kingdom.” Violators may be subject to a fine not to exceed $50,000 per day for each distinct food product in violation of the requirement.
The ingredients subject to the warning label requirement are the FD&C colors (i.e., Blue Dye No. 1, Red Dye No. 40, etc.) and numerous other ingredients including bleached flour, bromated flour, azodicarbonamide, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), potassium bromate, and propylparaben. Although the sweeteners aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame potassium (as well as high fructose corn syrup) were listed in earlier drafts of the bill, they are not included in the bill ultimately signed into law.
The warning requirement will apply only to food product labels “developed or copyrighted on or after January 1, 2027.” Thus, it appears that food labels in use or even just copyrighted before that date could continue to be used for extended periods of time beyond that date.
Notably, the law as passed includes an express federal preemption provision that may limit its impact significantly. This preemption provision states that the warning label will not be required for any of the 40+ enumerated ingredients if, “[o]n and after September 1, 2025, and the effective date of a federal law or regulation issued by” FDA or USDA, the law or regulation prohibits or imposes conditions on the use of the ingredient, determines the ingredient or class of ingredients is safe for human consumption, or requires a labeling statement relating to ultra-processed or processed foods (emphasis added).
Some stakeholders have commented that this preemption provision is confusing, because most of the enumerated ingredients are in fact the subject of FDA regulations finding the ingredients to be safe for human consumption. If the provision relates to laws and regulations extant before September 1, 2025, S.B. 25 would impose no warning requirements for those ingredients, but the language regarding the date is unclear. The preemption language was included via a recent amendment introduced by Rep. Gary VanDeaver to prevent manufacturers from having to navigate conflicting federal and state requirements. Rep. Lacey Hull, a sponsor of the bill, critiqued the amendment as effectively gutting the bill, the point of which was to address “decades of federal inaction.” VanDeaver’s amendment passed, however, by a vote of 79-48.
Texas S.B. 314
Additionally, S.B. 314 was signed into law by Governor Abbott on May 27, 2025. That law prohibits Texas school districts and open-enrollment charter schools from providing free or reduced-price meals that contain any of 17+ specified ingredients. The prohibited ingredients are the FD&C colors Blue Dye No. 1, Blue Dye No. 2, Citrus Red Dye No. 3, Green Dye No. 3, Orange B, Red Dye No. 3, Red Dye No. 40, Yellow Dye No. 5, and Yellow Dye No. 6, as well as brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben, azodicarbonamide, butylated hydroxyanisole, ammonia caramel, sulfite ammonia caramel, titanium dioxide, and “any additive that is substantially similar” to one of the aforementioned ingredients.
The law is already in effect and will apply beginning with the 2026-2027 school year to contracts to provide food for free or reduced-priced meals entered into or renewed on or after September 1, 2026.
Louisiana S.B. 14
S.B. 14 has been passed by the state legislatures and is currently on the governor’s desk. Under Louisiana law, it will become enacted if he signs it or takes no action by June 25, 2025.
Ingredient Disclosure Requirements
The disclosure requirements of S.B. 14 would require human food products that contain any of 40+ specified ingredients to include a QR code that links to a web page under the control of the manufacturer. The web page must bear the following disclaimer in a prominent location: “NOTICE: This product contains [insert ingredient here]. For more information about this ingredient, including FDA approvals, click HERE.” This disclaimer must link to “FDA’s web page regarding food chemical safety,” presumably this page, though the bill doesn’t specify.
The ingredients subject to this requirement include all of the enumerated FD&C colors (i.e., Red Dye 40, Blue Dye 1, etc.); the sweeteners acesulfame potassium, aspartame, and sucralose; and numerous other ingredients largely comparable to those subject to Texas S.B. 25.
The law also would require foodservice establishments that cook or prepare food using seed oils to display the following disclaimer on the menu or other clearly visible location: “Some menu items may contain or be prepared using seed oils.” For purposes of this requirement, “seed oil” includes canola or rapeseed oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, grapeseed oil, rice bran oil, safflower oil, soybean oil, and sunflower oil.
The disclosure requirements of the law would come into effect on January 1, 2028.
Ban on Certain Ingredients in School Meals
Under S.B. 14, effective beginning with the 2028-2029 school year, Louisiana public schools and nonpublic schools that receive state funds would be prohibited from serving school meals that contain any of the following 15 specified ingredients: Blue Dye No. 1, Blue Dye No. 2, Green Dye No. 3, Red Dye No. 3, Red Dye No. 40, Yellow Dye No. 5, Yellow Dye No. 6, azodicarbonamide, butylated hydroxyanisole, butylated hydroxytoluene, potassium bromate, propylparaben, acesulfame potassium, aspartame, and sucralose.
Covington will continue to monitor these activities and keep our clients and contacts updated, including regarding the ultimate status of Louisiana S.B. 14.
If you have any questions concerning the material discussed in this client alert, please contact the members of our Food, Beverage, and Dietary Supplements practice.
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