Legislation filed this week in Tennessee would prohibit the controversial Red Number 40 artificial food dye from being offered to children in any public or charter school in the state.
The legislative summary for House Bill 134 by Representative Elaine Davis (R-Knoxville) explains the legislation would require Tennessee’s public and charter schools to explicitly “prohibit food or beverage items that contain Red 40,” from being “sold, offered for sale, or provided to students on a school property.” It offers an exception for food and beverages “sold to the student as part of a school fundraising event.”
According to the text of the legislation, the bill would take effect in August 2027 if voted into law, meaning schools would likely have until the Fall 2027 semester to comply with the prohibition.
The Cleveland Clinic warns that red 40, a product made using petroleum, may have an adverse affect on those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), causing increased hyperactivity.
It also reports the dye could be associated with other behavioral changes, including irritability or depression, and could cause allergic reactions, hives, and asthma, while Healthline reports the dye has been associated with migraines.
Red 40 is among the food dyes targeted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who President-elect Donald Trump nominated to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and who has promised that he would instruct manufacturers of breakfast cereals that use such dyes in products popular with children to discontinue their use immediately upon taking office.
When Kennedy campaigned for Trump last October, he said that if he were offered a role in his administration, “The first thing I’d do isn’t going to cost you anything because I’m just gonna tell the cereal companies: Take all the dyes out of their food.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which would be overseen by Kennedy under HHS, voted on Wednesday to ban another controversial food dye, Red Number 3, amid public concern about its possible links to cancer.
A spokesman for General Mills, the company behind various cereal brands including Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puffs, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch, reportedly said in November that it would “engage with federal regulators as they consider any additional changes they may propose.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Maraschino Cherry on Top” by Zylenia CC2.0
