Arizona school leaders praise new restriction on ultra-processed foods
PHOENIX (AZFamily)— Arizona state schools chief Tom Horne, along with invited lawmakers and Maricopa County Schools Superintendent Shelli Boggs, praised the signing of a new bill that bans ultra-processed foods in schools.
Gov. Katie Hobbs signed House Bill 2164 into law amid Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative.
“Today, we send a message to every parent in Arizona. We see you, we hear your concerns, and we’re taking action to protect your children. To every student, you deserve clean, safe food, and now you’ll get it,” said Republican Rep. Leo Biasiucci, who was the bill’s sponsor.
The list of banned ingredients includes potassium bromate propylparaben, titanium dioxide, brominated vegetable oil, yellow dyes 5 and 6, blue dyes 1 and 2, red dyes 3 and 40 and green dye 3. State lawmakers say scientific studies have shown these ingredients to be harmful and potentially cause “significant health risk for children.”
“I wanted to make sure that it was as hard as possible for you to say no and vote no on this bill. And so I made sure every item had the backing. But you’re right, there are so many more items we can add, and the beautiful part about this is we can always come back every legislative session,” Biasiucci said.
The bill takes effect for the 2026-2027 school year. The new law does not restrict children from bringing in their own food.
How are school meal guidelines set?
The U.S. Agriculture Department sets nutrition guidelines for the national school lunch and breakfast programs, serving nearly 30 million students daily.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has called the federal dietary guidelines requiring low-fat milk “antiquated” and last month encouraged “full fat/whole milk” to be used in Head Start programs for the nation’s youngest children.
“No longer will our tax dollars be used in schools to poison students,” said Bogg. “I’m very proud that Arizona Is leading the way in making America healthy again.”
The nutrition standards are required to meet the federal Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which are reviewed and revised every five years. Since 1985, those guidelines have recommended that Americans older than age 2 consume low-fat or fat-free dairy.
The 2025-2030 dietary guidelines are set for revision this year under a joint effort by USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services. A panel of scientific experts who reviewed the evidence regarding milk fat content recommended that the U.S. policy remain the same.
One reason was that research has shown changes in the federal nutrition program after the 2010 law have slowed the rise in obesity among U.S. kids — even teenagers, said Deanna Hoelscher, a nutrition expert and researcher at the University of Texas Health Science Center who served on the dietary guidelines committee.
“We didn’t find enough definitive evidence to change a policy that’s been in place that has shown good outcomes to date,” Hoelscher said.
Although there was limited evidence that consuming higher-fat dairy rather than lower-fat dairy could benefit very young children, she said there wasn’t enough evidence to conclude if it benefits older kids and teens. The report concluded that there were “substantial concerns” with the existing research’s consistency, quantity, and risk of bias.
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