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Senate concurs with House on 'Make Texas Healthy Again' bill after changes on labels, nutrition classes
Summary
Senators concurred with House amendments to Senate Bill 25, the 'Make Texas Healthy Again' (MAHA) bill, which adds consumer-labeling requirements for certain processed-food ingredients, makes some college nutrition classes optional, and includes preemption and federal conformity language.
The Senate voted to concur with House amendments to Senate Bill 25, a comprehensive nutrition and food-transparency measure. Senator Kolkhorst, speaking for the Senate sponsor, described the bill as a transparency-focused measure and thanked Chair Hull and members of the legislative MAHA caucus for work across chambers.
Why it matters: Sponsors said the bill would require warning labels for specified ingredients in ultra‑processed foods, expand nutrition education for health professionals and students, and create an advisory committee to develop curriculum free from conflicts of interest. The bill also contains preemption language to avoid conflict with future federal law or regulation.
Key changes the House made and that the Senate accepted, according to Kolkhorst: college nutrition classes for associate and baccalaureate degrees were made optional rather than mandatory; the House added preemption language specifying that federal bans or labeling requirements would supersede state labels; exemptions were added for products already subject to a Surgeon General or federal warning label, for USDA‑regulated products, and for agricultural chemicals used in production. Kolkhorst said, "this is a transparency bill... It does not ban anything. What it says is you're just gonna tell the consumers this is what's in these foods."
Senators also noted the bill requires nutrition education for graduate medical education and nursing programs and the creation of an advisory committee to develop curriculum without conflicts of interest.
Action: The Senate concurred in House amendments; the clerk recorded 31 ayes and 0 nays. Sponsors indicated the bill will be sent to the governor for signature following enrollment.
