“Many ... preventable chronic diseases are caused by a lack of proper nutrition and physical activity,” Kolkhorst said during a Feb. 26 hearing of the Texas Senate Health and Human Services Committee. “Down the road, I think that we'll see less expenditures in the health care world and people not just living longer, but living more productive lives, and that's really the goal.”
The overview
Kolkhorst’s Senate Bill 25 would direct food manufacturers to add labels to products containing certain ingredients; require students to take nutrition classes beginning in high school; expand physical education classes for middle school students; and more.
Kolkhorst said her bill is based on “discussions that we’ve heard on the national level” and a November interim committee hearing. During that hearing, invited panelists told senators rising rates of obesity and diabetes were consequences of lax food safety standards.
“People are living sick longer,” Jason Karp, the CEO of health food company HumanCo, said Nov. 13. “So, I don't think necessarily lifespan is the only variable to look at. ‘Health span’ is a new term that they're using, which is how you feel when you're 60 or 70 or 80.”
Roughly 40% of U.S. adults were considered obese between August 2021-August 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Obesity is linked to up to 53% of new cases of type 2 diabetes each year, according to the American Diabetes Association, and over 2.5 million Texas adults have been diagnosed with diabetes.
“I believe we can start addressing some of these issues,” Kolkhorst said Feb. 26. “The market adjusts to trends and what consumers want—we just have to educate our consumers and constituents.”
SB 314, by Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, would ban 14 food additives from free and reduced-price meals served in Texas public schools. Two of the listed additives, Red Dye 3 and brominated vegetable oil, were recently banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“Senate Bill 314 is about those kids who don't have the privilege of choosing what they're going to eat during the school day,” Hughes said during the Feb. 26 hearing. “They can eat what's put in front of them, or they can go hungry. They can consume dangerous chemicals, or they can just be malnourished.”
Hughes said the bill would only apply to free and reduced-price school meals to avoid “something so broad that it affects a mom bringing cupcakes up to the class, or the school having a pizza party.”
Both bills were sent to the full Senate on March 5. The committee unanimously approved SB 25, while Hughes’ SB 314 was passed out of the committee in a 6-1 vote.
Zooming in
SB 25 would require food manufacturers that sell products in Texas to add visible labels disclosing the use of artificial colors and certain chemicals in their products. Companies would have until 2027 to meet the labeling requirements, Kolkhorst said.
“The choice being: you’re going to put the label on your food, or you’re going to take those additives out of your food,” she said March 5.
Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, likened the proposed guidelines to warnings for cigarettes and alcohol.
“This is an incredible step, because it's not about telling people what they can eat or not. ... We did it with pregnant women and alcohol and a number of other things, of just trying to step in to make sure people are informed and make good decisions for themselves,” Hall said Feb. 26.
Under SB 25, public school students would be required to complete at least 30 minutes of “moderate or vigorous daily physical activity” in kindergarten through eighth grade. State law currently says sixth through eighth graders must participate in physical activity during four of their six semesters.
Schools would not be allowed to prohibit students from going to recess or physical education classes as a form of punishment, Kolkhorst said.
“Restoring physical activity in schools, which I think we all understand, is critically important. It's a right, not a privilege,” said Mark Hyman, a physician and health advocate.
SB 25 also proposes requiring nutrition classes for all students in public high schools and public colleges or universities. This would also apply to all students enrolled in nursing school, health-related majors or medical school.
“I personally had no nutrition training in school,” Hyman said Feb. 26. “My daughter, who is a fourth-year medical student now, has had zero nutrition training.”
Requirements for the nutrition curriculum would be set by a state nutrition advisory board under SB 25. The proposed board would have seven members, including a licensed physician, a metabolic health expert and more, according to the bill.
More details
A version of SB 314 approved by the committee would ban the following additives from free and reduced-price breakfasts and lunches served in public schools:
- Brominated vegetable oil, a stabilizer used in some citrus drinks and banned by the FDA on Aug. 2
- Potassium bromate, an additive used to improve texture in some bagels, breads and other baked goods
- Propylparaben, a preservative used in some packaged baked goods, like pastries and tortillas
- Azodicarbonamide, an additive used to bleach flour and strengthen dough in items like pizzas, burger buns and more
- Butylated hydroxyanisole, a preservative used in some cured meats, cereals and active dry yeast
- Titanium dioxide, an additive used to whiten or enhance color in some shredded cheeses, gums and candies
- Red Dye 3, a synthetic dye banned by the FDA on Jan. 15
- Red Dye 40
- Yellow Dye 5
- Yellow Dye 6
- Blue Dye 1
- Blue Dye 2
- Green Dye 3
- Caramel
Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston, said Feb. 26 he was concerned schools would have trouble meeting the requirements and could lose funding.
“In an imperfect world, ... this could be a proposal to stop the free lunch and breakfast programs,” he said.
Hughes said the state would work with vendors and schools to ensure that does not happen.
“California and New York did this before us, ... and there's no evidence that the free and reduced lunches have been stopped or curbed,” Hughes said Feb. 26.
Grace Price, a 19-year-old health advocate, testified in support of SB 314 during the Feb. 26 hearing, noting that Texans should be able to “trust our schools to provide meals that nourish our kids.”
“What if I told you that some of the top-performing districts in the country, including in Texas ... are serving meals loaded with chemicals that could be harming our children?” Price said. “We would never allow lead paint in our classrooms; we wouldn’t allow contaminated water. So, why on earth would we allow carcinogens in our children's food?”
