Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. traveled to Austin and met with Gov. Greg Abbott, who signed a series of health-related education and nutrition bills into law last month.
There were three bills included in the “Make Texas Healthy Again” Act.
Senate Bill 25 requires food label transparency for consumers and implements nutrition education across K-12 schools, higher education and the health care workforce.
Any food product sold in Texas must include a clearly visible warning label if it contains one or more of 44 specified additives — such as bleached flour, Red Dye No. 3, BHA, titanium dioxide and other colorants, preservatives and synthetic compounds.
The required label must read, “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 also mandates that schools offer daily physical activity for students from kindergarten to eighth grade and prevents faculty from restricting recess to students as a punishment.
For higher institutions like UT San Antonio, SB 25 requires nutrition education for all students enrolled in an associate or baccalaureate program in medical or healthcare service fields.
Senate Bill 314 stops schools in the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs from serving free or reduced-price meals that contain certain additives — such as Red Dye No. 3, BHA and titanium dioxide.
Senate Bill 379 prohibits individuals from using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to purchase energy, sweetened or carbonated beverages and certain packaged chips or cookies. All three bills went into effect Sept. 1.
“This is one of the most prolific bipartisan pieces of legislation that was passed this session,” Abbott said. “Doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat, Republican, whatever the case may be, every legislator in Texas wants to see Texas be put on a pathway to be healthier, and these laws that I’m signing today chart that pathway.”
According to a report by The Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living,
Texas has the sixth highest obesity rate for children ages 6-17 in the U.S. The study found 29% of school-aged boys have obesity compared to 22% of girls in Texas, and one in four of school-aged children and adolescents in Texas have obesity, compared to one in five students in the U.S. One of the key highlights in this study suggests fostering healthy habits and encouraging healthy behaviors are essential to preventing childhood obesity.
Kennedy applauded Texas leaders for supporting his “Make America Healthy Again” initiative, saying the state is setting the standard when it comes to removing harmful additives and promoting better nutrition.
“I’ve been to many states, but there is no state — maybe with the exception of Louisiana — that has passed legislation this far-reaching,” Kennedy said at the event, highlighting Abbott’s signing of senate bills 25, 314 and 379.
