Tennessee senate passes bill banning artificial food dyes in public school cafeterias

From Local 3 News: The Tennessee Senate overwhelmingly passed Senate Bill 2423 on Monday, approving the measure by a 27–3 vote.

The legislation would prohibit public schools from selling or providing food and drinks that contain artificial food dyes, a move supporters say is meant to protect children from prolonged exposure to additives that may affect behavior and health.

Republican Senator Rusty Crowe says the bill builds on steps the state has already taken.
“Last year, if you recall, we stopped Red Dye 40 in our school nutrition systems,” Crowe said. “This bill just makes sure that Tennessee is proactive and able to be on top of it when the official national ban comes sometime in 2027.”

Crowe added that children are especially vulnerable because of repeated exposure to these dyes through food marketed toward kids.

“Our kids have a great deal of potential and propensity for chronic exposure, much more so than we do on these dyes,” he said.

For parents like Brandon Cawood, the issue is personal. Cawood says his family began noticing troubling behavioral changes in their young son.

“We started having these behavior issues with our son,” Cawood said, describing aggression, temper tantrums, and biting beyond what is considered normal for a toddler.
 
After putting their son on an elimination diet that removed artificial food dyes, Cawood says the change was dramatic.

“Within 48 hours, we had a completely different kid,” he said.

That experience led Brandon and his wife Brittany to advocate publicly against artificial food dyes. The pair went on to create a Facebook group with nearly 1 million members, and produce a nationally recognized documentary about the effects of food dyes.
 
“Four or five years ago, I would have been the person that looked at this whole situation and thought this is ridiculous - we’re talking about food coloring,” Cawood said. “But when you see how life-changing it can be for families, you can’t help but speak up about it.”

The Federal Drug Administration says, "The FDA has reviewed and will continue to examine the effects of color additives on children’s behavior. The totality of scientific evidence indicates that most children have no adverse effects when consuming foods containing color additives, but some evidence suggests that certain children may be sensitive to them.

The FDA will continue to evaluate emerging science to ensure the safety of color additives approved for use."

The bill now moves forward in the legislative process as lawmakers continue debating how food additives should be regulated in Tennessee schools.

If the bill passes the House and gets signed by Governor Bill Lee, the ban would go into effect August 1, 2027 to give schools time to secure new contracts.