On Sunday, June 22, 2025, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law a bill mandating new warning labels on processed foods and beverages containing 44 food additives and dyes considered potentially harmful to human health. The law applies to a wide range of processed products, including candy, cookies, chips, and soft drinks and marks a major shift in food labeling requirements for the state.
The bill, which passed the state legislature with strong bipartisan support, targets a list of additives and food coloring such as Red Dye No. 40 and Yellow No. 5 that are listed by international health agencies in countries such as the UK or European Union as potentially toxic or harmful to human health.
The law mandates that products containing any of the listed additives must carry the following warning label:
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.
This new requirement follows in the footsteps of California’s famous Prop 65 which requires manufacturers to label food products containing certain chemical as potentially hazards for cancer and reproductive health.
Similarly to California’s Prop 65, the Texas law applies only to products sold within the state, but its impact is expected to extend to the whole country. With over 31 million residents, Texas represents a significant portion of the U.S. market. As a result, many food manufacturers may choose to update labels or reformulate products nationwide to comply with the new requirements rather than produce Texas-specific versions.
While the legislation includes other provisions applying to local issues including health education, the food labeling guidelines are the most wide reaching and nationally significant, because any company that sells their products in Texas will have to either remove those compounds or post a warning label.
The food industry lobbied strongly against the bill, arguing that the labels are misleading and unnecessarily alarm consumers. However, their efforts were ultimately unsuccessful in overcoming the broad support from the administration’s MAHA movement. With the law set to take effect on January 1, 2027, companies now face a tight timeline to adapt. Some manufacturers have already begun taking steps to comply, either by modifying their packaging or reformulating products to eliminate the flagged ingredients.