RFK Jr.'s MAHA movement has picked up steam in statehouses

3 hours ago 5

When 1 of Adam Burkhammer's foster children struggled with hyperactivity, the West Virginia legislator and his woman decided to change their fare and region immoderate foods that contained synthetic dyes.

"We saw a turnaround successful his behavior, and our different children," said Burkhammer, who has adopted oregon fostered 10 kids with his wife. "There are existent impacts connected existent kids."

The Republican turned his acquisition into legislation, sponsoring a measure to ban 7 dyes from nutrient sold successful the state. It became instrumentality successful March, making West Virginia the archetypal authorities to institute specified a prohibition from each nutrient products.

The measure was among a slew of authorities efforts to modulate synthetic dyes. In 2025, astir 75 bills aimed astatine nutrient dyes were introduced successful 37 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Chemical dyes and nutrition are conscionable portion of the broader "Make America Healthy Again" agenda. Promoted by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., MAHA ideas person made their deepest inroads astatine the authorities level, with beardown enactment from Republicans — and successful immoderate places, from Democrats. The $50 cardinal Rural Health Transformation Program — created past twelvemonth arsenic portion of the GOP's One Big Beautiful Bill Act to grow wellness attraction entree successful agrarian areas — offers incentives to states that instrumentality MAHA policies.

Federal and authorities officials are seeking a wide swath of wellness argumentation changes, including rolling back regular vaccinations and expanding the usage of drugs specified arsenic ivermectin for treatments beyond their approved use. State lawmakers person introduced dozens of bills targeting vaccines, fluoridated water, and PFAS, a radical of compounds known arsenic "forever chemicals" that person been linked to crab and different wellness problems.

In summation to West Virginia, six different states person targeted nutrient dyes with caller laws oregon enforcement orders, requiring informing labels connected nutrient with definite dyes oregon banning the merchantability of specified products successful schools. California has had a instrumentality regulating nutrient dyes since 2023.

Most synthetic dyes utilized to colour nutrient person been around for decades. Some objective studies person recovered a nexus betwixt their usage and hyperactivity successful children. And successful aboriginal 2025, successful the past days of President Joe Biden's term, the Food and Drug Administration outlawed the usage of a dye known arsenic Red No. 3.

Major nutrient companies including Nestle, Hershey, and PepsiCo person gotten connected board, pledging to destruct astatine slightest immoderate colour additives from nutrient products implicit the adjacent twelvemonth oregon two.

"We expect that the momentum we saw successful 2025 volition proceed into 2026, with a peculiar absorption connected constituent information and transparency," said John Hewitt, the elder vice president of authorities affairs for the Consumer Brands Association, a commercialized radical for nutrient manufacturers.

This past summer, the radical called connected its members to voluntarily destruct federally certified artificial dyes from their products by the extremity of 2027.

"The authorities laws are truly what's motivating companies to get escaped of dyes," said Jensen Jose, regulatory counsel for the Center for Science successful the Public Interest, a nonprofit wellness advocacy group.

Andy Baker-White, the elder manager of authorities wellness argumentation for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, said the bipartisan enactment for bills targeting nutrient dyes and ultraprocessed nutrient struck him arsenic unusual. Several reddish states person projected authorities modeled connected California's 2023 law, which bans 4 nutrient additives.

"It's not precise often you spot states similar California and West Virginia astatine the forefront of an contented together," Baker-White said.

Although Democrats person joined Republicans successful immoderate of these efforts, Kennedy continues to thrust the agenda. He appeared with Texas officials erstwhile the authorities enacted a bundle of food-related laws, including 1 that bars individuals who enactment successful the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — SNAP, oregon nutrient stamps — from utilizing their benefits to bargain candy oregon sugary drinks. In December, the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved akin waivers sought by six states. Eighteen states will artifact SNAP purchases of those items in 2026.

There are bound to beryllium more. The Rural Health Transformation Program besides offers incentives to states that implemented restrictions connected SNAP.

"There are existent and factual effects wherever the agrarian wellness wealth gives points for changes successful SNAP eligibility oregon the SNAP definitions," Baker-White said.

In October, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a measure that sets a legal explanation for ultraprocessed foods and volition signifier them retired of schools. It's a determination that whitethorn beryllium copied successful different states successful 2026, portion besides providing fodder for ineligible battles. In December, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu sued large nutrient companies, accusing them of selling "harmful and addictive" products. The lawsuit names circumstantial brands — including cereals, pizzas, sodas, and murphy chips — linking them to superior wellness problems.

Kennedy has besides blamed ultraprocessed foods for chronic diseases. But adjacent proponents of the efforts to tackle nutrition concerns don't hold connected which foods to target. MAHA adherents connected the close haven't focused connected sweetener and sodium arsenic overmuch arsenic policymakers connected the left. The parties person besides butted heads implicit immoderate Republicans' championing of raw milk, which tin dispersed harmful germs, and the depletion of saturated fat, which contributes to heart disease.

Policymakers expect different flash points. Moves by the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that are making vaccine entree much hard person led bluish states to find ways to acceptable their ain standards isolated from national recommendations, with 15 Democratic governors announcing a new nationalist wellness alliance successful October. Meanwhile, much reddish states whitethorn destruct vaccine mandates for employees; Idaho made them illegal. And Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is pushing to eliminate schoolhouse vaccine mandates.

Even arsenic Kennedy advocates eliminating artificial dyes, the Environmental Protection Agency has loosened restrictions connected chemicals and pesticides, starring MAHA activists to circulate an online petition calling connected President Donald Trump to occurrence EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.

Congress has yet to enactment connected astir MAHA proposals. But authorities lawmakers are poised to tackle galore of them.

"If we're honest, the American radical person mislaid religion successful immoderate of our national institutions, whether FDA oregon CDC," said Burkhammer, the West Virginia lawmaker. "We're going to measurement up arsenic states and bash the close thing."

KFF Health News is simply a nationalist newsroom that produces in-depth journalism astir wellness issues and is 1 of the halfway operating programs astatine KFF — the autarkic root for wellness argumentation research, polling, and journalism.