CHARLESTON, W.Va. –Just over a month ago, Governor Patrick Morrisey signed a bill into law that bans certain artificial food dyes within the Mountain State.
House Bill 2354 bans seven artificial food dyes from being used in West Virginia schools before next school year. The law will later move more broadly throughout the state.
The West Virginia Department of Education has sent some guidance to counties based on the language of the law.
Tony Crago, director of the Office of Child Nutrition with the state Department of Education, says they’ve given a comprehensive list to the counties.
“The USDA has a food research database that has all of these components in it, all of these products in it. We’ve searched for the dyes and put together a list of products we know would be affected and we’ve given that to the counties, and we’ve trained them on these products,” Crago said.
Counties will have to comply by August 1, 2025.
Crago says that many items that are now banned have already been reformulated, and other items are being reformulated as we speak.
“The products that are needed will be reformulated, and in the meantime, schools will adjust and shift and change to some items that don’t have those now banned ingredients in them,” Crago said.
“Fortunately, a lot of the vendors are saying that many of the products listed have already been reformulated and the ones that have not, they are working to get them reformulated so that there isn’t a large gap in available products,” Crago said.
The cost for counties to comply will vary depending on how much cooking from scratch is done. The more scratch cooking done within the county, the easier it will be to comply.
“It’s hard to put a number on it but what we can say is, some counties will be impacted a little more than others, depending on their menus and where they get their items,” Crago said.
There will be one part of the day where counties won’t have to abide by the new law.
“Fundraising or school events that happen off premises or at least a half hour after the school day do not have to comply at this time,” Crago said.