Packaged food and drink sold in Texas containing certain artificial ingredients will require on-pack warning labels following the signing of Senate Bill 25 by Governor Greg Abbott this weekend.

The bill passed unanimously in the state senate and was handed over to Abbott for review earlier this month. Dubbed the ‘Make Texas Healthy Again Act,’ the bill is said to be backed by US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Abbott signed the bill on Sunday 22 June 2025, alongside a further 1,154 bills signed into law and 28 vetoed bills.

It will require packaged foods and beverages sold in the state to display a warning label if they contain 44 ingredients that are currently banned or restricted in the EU, UK, Canada or Australia, but still permitted in the US.

When the new requirements come into effect next year, manufacturers will be required to use statements on-pack such as ‘WARNING: This product contains an ingredient that is not recommended for human consumption by the appropriate authority in Australia, Canada, the European Union or the United Kingdom’.

The bill targets a range of synthetic ingredients including artificial dyes, preservatives, additives, and bleached and bromated flours.

 It follows increasing scrutiny over artificial ingredients in the US, with Kennedy’s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ campaign seeking to reform dietary practices in order to reduce chronic disease in the US.

A heavy focus on the campaign has been on eliminating petroleum-based dyes and other artificial ingredients, which have been linked to health issues ranging from hyperactivity in children to cancer.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the use of Red Dye 3 in January this year following two studies that linked the bright red colourant to cancer in male laboratory rats. It then announced long-term plans to remove all petroleum-based synthetic dyes from the nation’s food supply in April 2025, approving three colours derived from natural sources the following month to expand options for F&B manufacturers.

Though Senate Bill 25 is specific to foods sold in Texas, the bill will likely have significant implications for the broader F&B industry in the US, with manufacturers standardising packaging across the nation to reduce complexity. Popular brands such as Doritos, Skittles and Gatorade are among those set to be impacted by the new law.

Speaking broadly about all bills signed into law, Governor Abbott said: “Working with the Texas Legislature, we delivered results that will benefit Texans for generations to come”.