How West Virginians are navigating the state’s new artificial food dye ban

Ali Rogin:

Earlier this year, West Virginia became the first of a number of politically conservative states to ban artificial food dyes. It's part of a larger movement known as MAHA or Make America Healthy Again, an effort championed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. We went to the Mountain State to see how this new law is playing out.

Danielle Ellis:

Hey Evie, do you want to help me?

Ali Rogin (voice-over):

At Danielle Ellis's House, dinner time is a family affair.

Danielle Ellis:

And here's your coconut aminos. Okay.

Ali Rogin (voice-over):

Five year old Evie works the skillet dad Josh serves and all the kids clean their plates.

Danielle Ellis:

Mealtime at our house can be a little crazy, but it's fun. We try to keep the kids foods interesting and fun and healthy.

Ali Rogin (voice-over):

The small business owner and mom of four prepares meals that are healthy, homemade and full of color, just not artificial ones. That's particularly important for six year old Nathan, who loves trucks and dancing and has down syndrome.

Danielle Ellis:

For Nathan, having Down Syndrome makes him more susceptible toxins in general and I can't control the medical ones that he has to receive throughout his lifetime. So I make sure he has a good base of nutrition.

Ali Rogin (voice-over):

That good base of nutrition at home is tested at school, where it can be hard to resist all the tempting treats in the classroom.

Danielle Ellis:

There's always all these celebrations where they're bringing in cupcakes and there's all kinds of food dye in. And I didn't want Nathan to be exposed to that.

Ali Rogin (voice-over):

The governor of West Virginia, Patrick Morrisey, doesn't want anyone in his state to be exposed to it.

Gov. Pat Morrisey (R) West Virginia: Let's start with no more dyes and dangerous additives in the schools.

Ali Rogin (voice-over):

This past March, he approved a ban on seven artificial dyes. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. attended the official announcement and credited supporters of his Make America Healthy Again movement, or MAHA, for helping to pave the way for the new law.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., HHS Secretary:

I want to thank the MAHA moms who got me into this office and President Trump who has given me free rein to do anything I need to do to make America healthy again.

Ali Rogin (voice-over):

Kennedy said he believes food dyes are the root cause of many of Americans health problems.

Robert Kennedy:

It's very clear that dyes that Governor Morrisey is banning all of them are linked in very, very strong studies to ADHD and to cancers.

Ali Rogin (voice-over):

Dr. Asa Bradman co-authored one of those studies focusing on the effect of food dyes on the behavior of children.

Dr. Asa Bradman, Universisty of California, Merced: The overall findings from these studies support and association between intake of artificial food colors and changes in behavior in the children.

Ali Rogin:

What gaps, though, still remain in our understanding of the link that you just laid out?

Asa Bradman:

I think where we need to have more research is to better understand the impacts of exposure on changes in neurodevelopment. It may be that children, for example, that are already diagnosed with ADHD, that an additional exposure to a chemical that impacts, say, brain function could exacerbate that. But the data on that is not clear.

Ali Rogin (voice-over):

West Virginia's food dye ban went into effect for schools in August and will extend statewide in 2028. That's when the FDA is also aiming for a nationwide phase out of these same dyes. The trade group representing the country's biggest food and beverage makers told PBS News Weekend its members are planning to voluntarily cut dyes before those deadlines.

But in West Virginia, the food challenges run deeper than dyes.

Ali Rogin:

West Virginia is also one of the hungriest states in the nation, and some experts say that it's not a bad thing to ban some artificial dyes, but that it shouldn't distract from more underlying problems like inequitable access to safe and healthy foods.

Rhonda Rogombe, West Virginia Center of Budget and Policy: I think that the state is really looking to do a lot of things to make food healthier for folks, but I think it's a little bit misguided.

Ali Rogin (voice-over):

Rhonda Rogombe is a health and safety net policy analyst with the West Virginia center on Budget and Policy.

Rhonda Rogombe:

There are a lot of food deserts and a lot of other things that make preparing healthy meals really difficult. And in a lot of places, foods with dyes are the ones that are accessible to people. And so I think that this may harm food security in the short and long term as we focus on what's in food rather than accessibility to food itself.

Ali Rogin:

Cynthia Kirkhart helps West Virginians access food every day. She's the CEO of Facing Hunger Food bank, which serves people across Appalachia.

Cynthia Kirkhart, CEO, Facing Hunger Foodbank:

You see the big variety of cars. Every one of those cars has a story, and it has led them to sit in line and wait for food.

Ali Rogin (voice-over):

We met her at a mobile pantry event about 45 minutes from Danielle Ellis's house. Here, drivers lined up hours in advance to receive free groceries, including fresh meat and produce, along with some shelf stable goods containing preservatives and food dyes.

Ali Rogin:

How would you characterize the level of need right now?

Cynthia Kirkhart:

Very high. Folks who are food insecure operate from a position of not so much thriving.

Ali Rogin (voice-over):

But surviving despite those high needs. Kirkhart says she's lost critical federal support since President Trump returned to office reductions to the Department of Agriculture's Emergency Food Assistance program, which helps low income Americans cut deep.

Cynthia Kirkhart:

When the initial cuts were announced in April, were expecting 16 truckloads of food. 11 of them got cut. That's 330,000 pounds of food.

Man:

You're picking up the tea families do we want them in the back seat or the trunk? Back seat. All right.

Ali Rogin (voice-over):

Kirkhart says the new food dye ban will make it harder for her to help people, especially those without access to full kitchens. Microwavable meals and frozen foods often have artificial dyes. If Kirkhart has to remove them from her list, she'll have less to hand out to folks who are in desperate need.

Cynthia Kirkhart:

I love the movement toward healthier food, but let's bring everyone along with us. Yes, let's make that move, but let's figure out what we can replace those items with.

Ali Rogin (voice-over):

61-year-old Bill Bell agrees. He was among those lined up for groceries.

Bill Bell:

I mean, it's just getting to the point where the dyes in the food, the sugars, I mean, they're just getting into telling basically what you can eat and what you can eat. It's getting to be ridiculous at the grocery stores and everything and so just need a little extra help.

Ali Rogin (voice-over):

Danielle Ellis's family has also felt the economic pinch. She says feeding her family high quality artificial dye free meals takes creativity.

Danielle Ellis:

I even had a friend that would give us eggs, and at the time I was actually a nursing mom and so I donated milk to her baby. So we traded milk and eggs.

Ali Rogin (voice-over):

She understands not everyone can put that much effort into buying and bartering for their food.

Danielle Ellis:

The food is out there. And it breaks my heart that not everybody has the resources or connections, for lack of a better word, to know where to find additional food choices that are healthy.

Ali Rogin (voice-over):

But she says West Virginians are starting to demand better options, and the food dye ban is an important sign of that.

Danielle Ellis:

I've started seeing even recently, like at Walmart, that they are offering dye free options, that they're offering non-GMO and organic options. We're voting with our dollars every time we go to the grocery store.

Ali Rogin (voice-over):

And at the grocery store, those dollars tend to be in the hands of moms.

Ali Rogin:

The MAHA movement has largely been driven by moms.

Danielle Ellis:

Yeah, yeah.

Ali Rogin:

Would you say you were MAHA before?

Danielle Ellis:

Yes, I've been on a MAHA journey for about the last 15 years. Just didn't label it.

Ali Rogin (voice-over):

She says she's all in when it comes to healthier foods, but she's not sold on all of President Trump's agenda.

Danielle Ellis:

You know, my son has down syndrome. I've seen him cut funding to some of the programs that would help Nathan as an adult and that scares me. But I support the Make America Healthy Again movement.

Ali Rogin (voice-over):

Like all parents, Ellis knows her children will face plenty of challenges on their own. But for now, she's helping to guide them through the food that goes on their plates.