CHARLESTON, W.V. – Today the West Virginia Senate passed a bill, introduced by West Virginia Sen. Brian Helton (R-District 9), to protect school children in the state from harmful food chemicals.
The Environmental Working Group supports the bill, S.B. 745. If enacted, it would ban West Virginia public schools from serving food containing 23 additives.
The additives are: titanium dioxide, butylated hydroxytoluene, butylated hydroxyanisole, tert-butylhydroquinone, sodium benzoate, propyl gallate, azodicarbonamide, aloe vera, propylparaben, potassium bromate, butylparaben, acetaldehyde, propylene oxide, ethoxyquin, acrolein, aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame K, diacetyl, octyl gallate, dodecyl gallate, calcium bromate and calcium sorbate.
All 23 chemicals listed in the bill are linked to health problems, including harm to the reproductive and hormone systems and even cancer.
The following is a statement from Scott Faber, EWG’s senior vice president for government affairs:
Food served to children shouldn’t contain chemicals that can harm their health or make it harder for them to learn.
Yet decades of broken federal oversight have left thousands of food chemicals on grocery store shelves and in school meals without thorough safety reviews. Some have not been reviewed in more than 40 years.
The Food and Drug Administration has no plan to fix that. In the absence of federal leadership, West Virginia’s Senate Bill 745 is a commonsense step toward protecting kids by removing harmful additives from school foods.
This is practical and doable: The vast majority of the substances S.B. 745 addresses aren’t widely used in school meals today, and food companies have shown they can reformulate quickly when required.
Faber testified on Feb. 17 in support of S.B. 745 in front of the West Virginia Senate Health and Human Resources Committee.
The legislation is the most recent in a series of state-led efforts to regulate harmful food chemicals. In 2025, eight states passed laws banning or restricting use of various food chemicals in public schools, and others, including Utah, Virginia and West Virginia, have passed statewide bans.
S.B. 745 will next be heard in the West Virginia House.
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The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action.
