Media Contact: Meredith Huddle
[email protected]
1-202-331-2466
CHARLESTON – The International Association of Color Manufacturers (IACM) represents the global color industry, including both natural and synthetic (FD&C) colors. IACM strongly supports the continued safe use of all color additives, including FD&C colors, which are among the most thoroughly studied and strictly regulated ingredients in the food supply. Color additives, regardless of source, play a critical role in ensuring product consistency, enhancing visual appeal, and maintaining consumer confidence in food and beverage products.
Today, West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey signed H.B. 2354 into law. Despite its stated purpose, this law will do little to improve public health. H.B. 2354 will only serve to place severe strain on West Virginia’s food industry. American consumers deserve the choice to enjoy food and beverage products at various price points. Compliance will be costly and complex for producers, retailers, and distributors alike—some of whom will be forced to discontinue operations in the state. Restricting color additives ignores scientific evidence and fails to consider the complex challenges of reformulation. Reformulating products is neither simple nor immediate, and the resulting supply disruptions will limit the availability of familiar grocery items, exacerbating food accessibility challenges, especially in rural areas.
Replacing FD&C colors with natural color alternatives is not a simple swap. IACM members already offer natural color options that have been available to consumers for decades. However, overcoming all the challenges created by a nonscientific mandate, including production hurdles, technical limitations, supply chain restraints, increased need for quality control, higher costs, and regulatory inconsistencies, will take more than five years, if not an entire generation.
FD&C colors are safe and enjoy global approval. FD&C colors have been rigorously reviewed by leading authorities, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Health Canada, and the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), all of which have found no causal link between FD&C color additives and adverse health effects, including hyperactivity in children. Despite common misconceptions, FD&C colors remain approved and widely used in global markets, including the European Union, where any formulation differences are driven by consumer preference rather than legal mandates.
Impacts on West Virginia Schools. Removing FD&C colors from school meals will not improve their nutritional profile or limit the number of processed foods offered. However, this law may make healthy options less appealing and will place additional burdens on schools already struggling to provide nutritious meals, complicating efforts to meet federal nutrition standards. Rather than improving health outcomes, H.B. 2354 will limit food choices, increase costs, and create unnecessary challenges for West Virginians.
IACM remains committed to safety and fact-based dialogue with regulators, policymakers, and the public about the use of color additives in the U.S. food supply.