Pennsylvania hearing examines 'Healthy PA' package to curb synthetic dyes, ultra‑processed foods and paraquat

Members of the Pennsylvania House Consumer Protection, Technology & Utilities Committee held an informational hearing on the "Healthy PA" legislative package, which would restrict certain synthetic food dyes and unhealthy ultra‑processed foods in schools, increase transparency for food‑additive approvals, and consider banning the herbicide paraquat.

Supporters told the panel the measures respond to mounting scientific evidence about harms from some food chemicals and highly processed foods and to gaps they described in federal oversight. "The FDA has not thoroughly reviewed these dyes since the sixties, seventies, and eighties," said Scott Faber, senior vice president for government affairs at the Environmental Working Group. Faber also said "more than half of the calories we consume come from UPFs, including 67% of the calories consumed by our children." Dr. Megan Grego, a family physician and chief medical officer of Kellen Foundation, cited studies linking ultra‑processed food intake to higher risks of cardiovascular disease, dementia…