West Virginia House passes ban on some food dyes, preservatives | News, Sports, Jobs

File – An assortment of Kellogg Froot loops, corn, apple and honey jack in Mount Leban, Pennsylvania, June 25, 2010. (AP photo / Gene J. Puskar, File)

Morgantown – The delegate House massively approved a bill on Friday to ban certain food conservatives and synthetic dyes.

The vote to adopt HB 2354 was 93-5 and will go to the State Senate.

In this case, the version of the bill that the delegates adopted has been modified on the floor of the room to correspond to the version of the Senate, SB 245, which evolved the health of the Senate on Thursday and will be at first reading on the Senate on Monday.

The version of HB 2354 which came to the soil prohibited the red dye 3, red 40, yellow 5, yellow 6, blue 1, blue 2 and green 3 – because the dyes are linked to the neurological and neurobehavioal impacts in children.

The bill also prohibits butylé (BHA) and Propylparaben hydroxyanisole, synthetic food preservatives.

File – Pez Candy is exhibited in a store in Lafayette, California, March 24, 2023. (AP photo / Haven Daley, File)

The bill remained inactive for several days during the talks with the Senate, and the health president of the Friday chamber, Evan Worrell, R-Cabell, brought his amendment to the adoption of the version of the Senate.

It maintains the prohibitions of coloring and conservatives, but makes prohibitions from January 1, 20

27, to allow grocers and manufacturers to adapt and coordinate with Californian legislation and federal mandates.

The bill also includes the ban on dyes listed in school nutrition programs from August 1 of this year. There is an exception to the ban on school fundraising.

Del. Brandon Steele, R-Raligh, said, “I am happy to see us attack a problem like this. Ronald McDonald killed many more people than Marlboro’s man never met all day. »»

Steele said the Japanese paid particular attention to food additives. And although they pay a little more and food might not remain so fresh, children live a healthier life.

The FDA has already ordered that the red dye 3 was withdrawn from food by 2027 and drugs by 2028 due to its links with cancer. It is already prohibited in some European countries, Australia and New Zealand.

Alternative versions of some of the American foods that contain synthetic dyes are available in other countries with safer and American stores such as Aldi.

California has prohibited blue 1 and 2, green 3, red 40 and yellow 5 and 6 of schools due to concerns about behavioral problems. Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania are considering prohibitions. World said that 23 states in total envisage coloring prohibitions.

Del. Larry Kump, R-Berkeley, said, “West Virginia Health is classified in the dumpster. Our diets are a large part of the ranking. … These food producers have not been held responsible for the freedoms they have taken with our food and our people. »»

Five Republicans voted against the bill.

After the adoption, the National Conformation Association published a declaration opposing the bill.

The NCA said: “This measure will make food more expensive for residents of Virginia-Western. There is a role for state legislators and public health officials to play in the current conversation on food additives, but – as we have said for years – the FDA is the legitimate national regulatory decision -maker and the leader of food security.

“Food security is the number one priority for American confectionery companies”, “ Nca said, “And we will continue to follow and respect the FDA management and security standards. Our consumers and everyone in the food industry want and expect a strong FDA and a coherent national regulatory framework based on science. »»

This confidence in the FDA did not reflect itself in the testimony of committees in the Chamber or in the Senate.

The environmental health consultant, Lisa Lefferts, who sat on the FDA advisory council 2011 by examining the synthetic dyes, told House Health that the FDA does not open the way by removing dyes. He performs pre-commercial security examinations on the basis of animal studies from 35 to 70 years old which are not intended for contemporary health problems.

And while certain bodies, such as the West Virginia Beverage Association, cite the current approval of the FDA of dyes such as their security insurance, Leffets said that the FDA had not made an in -depth evaluation for decades and had nothing on the agenda. “I don’t think we can count on the FDA.”