Last month, Governor Glenn Youngkin signed legislation prohibiting public elementary and secondary schools from serving lunches containing color additives starting on July 1, 2027.
Delegate Hillary Pugh Kent (R-Warsaw) and Senator Emily Jordan (R-Smithfield) sponsored the legislation HB 1910 and SB 1289.
“Every child in Virginia deserves to start the day with a nutritious meal that will fuel their academic success,” Jordan said.
Food experts Katie Steverson and Lilian de Jonge support Youngkin’s decision to ban color additives for the healthiest student learning outcomes.
Many food dyes are synthetic and derived from petroleum or coal tar byproducts. Carmine, a red dye, is derived from the cochineal insect. These additives give foods brighter colors to make them more appealing to eat. They have been included in school breakfast and lunch programs and are being banned by the Commonwealth of Virginia.
“I’m encouraged by this movement,” Youngkin said. “The legislation provides Virginia families with healthier options for school meals.”
It’s important to note that the legislation does not cover “competitive foods” sold to students separately during the school day. These foods include vending machine snacks, carbonated beverages, and fruit juices sold outside of food served by school cafeterias.
The legislation told schools to stop serving foods with the following color additives: Blue No. 1, Blue No. 2, Green No. 3, Red No. 3, Red No. 40, Yellow No. 5, and Yellow No. 6.
de Jonge, a nutrition and food studies professor at George Mason University, agrees with the plan to avoid food with color additives. She recommends that young children eat more natural foods to prevent higher food sensitivity, in which the body has difficulties tolerating certain foods, such as dyed foods.
“If you expose your child to foods without color additives, they will want to start eating more natural foods,” de Jonge said.
Individual contributions
In Lorton, Steverson, president and CEO of Fairfax Food Service, a private food catering service that provides meals to schools and daycare centers, said the legislative development is welcome news.
According to her research, ketchup and spaghetti sauce are two foods that contain red color additives to make them look brighter.
In November 2023, Steverson added more lentils and other plant proteins to whole-grain noodles as a healthier alternative to regular noodles with beef and sauce that use red food dye to her sample menu. She encourages students to try meals with healthy and dye-free ingredients.
“It’s a small modification without changing the menu,” Steverson said.
Health risks
Experts at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington, D.C., non-profit group that advocates for nutrition, food safety, and youth health, say that young children with prolonged exposure to color additives struggle to learn and succeed in school.
In January, Yale New Haven Health, a journal affiliated with Yale University, published an article that discussed how chemical substances cause increased hyperactivity in students during school hours. The article’s authors reported that Red No. 3 is made with erythrosine. This petroleum derivative increases student hyperactivity and is often consumed by children eating sweet foods, including candy, popsicles, and toaster pastries with red dye.
At George Mason, de Jonge said color additives cause declines in student behavior, mental status, and sleeping habits. Students experience increased levels of ADHD and sensitivity to color additives, she said, noting that avoiding them helps decrease the students’ hyperactivity.
“Color additives only make a food’s color brighter,” de Jonge said. “If you have a stable child, the effects are smaller than children who are irritable and hyperactive.”
Steverson said young children eat foods with color additives because they look more attractive and appetizing with brighter colors. Ingesting the food dyes can impact their learning and decision-making.
She recommended that parents and educators teach youth to practice “mindful” eating habits. She added that young children don’t know about the dangers of color additives and must avoid foods with them to overcome learning challenges.
“When you’re younger, your cognitive capabilities constantly evolve,” Steverson said. “It takes time to see effects from mindful food consumption.”
Longevity of school lunches
Steverson and de Jonge share strong perspectives on student learning from healthier school lunches.
In the early 2000s, Steverson added foods without color additives to her menus to encourage schools to adopt ‘mindful changes’ on students’ and school menus.
“People in any setting function better without additives,” Steverson said. “Students retain more information, learn better, and improve their cognitive abilities.”
de Jonge added that as schools remove color additives from lunches, she hopes families can encourage their children to eat enough nutritious meals during the day.
“The only advantage of color additives is that our food looks more appetizing,” de Jonge said. “It doesn’t add anything to the quality of the food children eat.”
发表回复