Center for Science in the Public Interest Submits Testimony to Remove Seven Dyes in Public School Food

ALBANY, NY (01/29/2026) (readMedia)-- Today, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CPSI) submitted testimony to the Joint Legislative Budget Hearing on Elementary Education & Secondary Education urging the Legislature to protect children from synthetic dyes in school foods in the state budget. Right now, Senator Kavanagh and Assemblymember Kelles have legislation in committees (A8707/S3214) that would prohibit the use of seven synthetic dyes in foods served in New York Public Schools - chemicals shown to affect behavior and attention in certain children, with consequences for learning.

"Synthetic dyes, including Red 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2, and Green 3, have

been shown to contribute to hyperactivity, inattentiveness, and anxiety in some children. Repeated exposure may undermine social and academic success. Despite these risks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not proposed regulations to remove synthetic dyes from school foods and is depending on state leadership," CSPI writes in the testimony.

FULL TESTIMONY BELOW:

Chair Krueger and Chair Pretlow:

Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony for the 2026 Joint Legislative Budget Hearing on Elementary Education and Secondary Education regarding inclusion of a measure to protect

children from harmful synthetic dyes in school foods. I am providing testimony on behalf of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a nonprofit consumer education and advocacy organization that has worked since 1971 to improve the public's health through better nutrition and safer food.

CSPI respectfully urges the inclusion in the State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2026-27 Executive Budget of provisions to prohibit synthetic dyes in school foods (A8707/S3214). This action would improve the safety of the state's Universal School Meals program by ensuring that meals are free from dyes that pose unnecessary risk to children, particularly in the absence of adequate federal action on food additives.

Synthetic dyes, including Red 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2, and Green 3, have been shown to contribute to hyperactivity, inattentiveness, and anxiety in some children. Repeated exposure may undermine social and academic success. Despite these risks, the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not proposed regulations to remove synthetic dyes from school foods and is depending on state leadership.

New York City already prohibits synthetic dyes in school foods. Extending this protection statewide would build on the state's investment in Universal School Meals for All and ensure all students, not just those in NYC, are protected from unnecessary additives in school. This

approach is practical and timely: California enacted legislation to ban synthetic dyes in school foods in 2024,7 and six states, including Virginia, Arizona, and Utah, passed similar legislation in 2025. California's ultraprocessed food legislation, enacted in 2025, uses a vendor- focused compliance model-ultimately prohibiting vendors from offering restricted products to schools. New York could take a similar approach to synthetic dyes by simply prohibiting companies from providing schools with foods that contain them, rather than imposing additional mandates on schools.

Even in a constrained fiscal environment, New York can protect children, advance evidence-based nutrition policy, and improve the safety of the Universal School Meals program by adopting this low-cost measure. CSPI respectfully urges you to include this measure to prohibit synthetic dyes in school foods in the SFY 2026-27 Executive Budget.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

Meghan Enslow, MPH

Policy Associate

Center for Science in the Public Interest