A sweeping bill – that calls for a series of nutrition reforms in Louisiana - is on the governor’s desk. Major components include banning certain artificial colors and additives in meals served in schools and forcing food companies to put QR codes on packaging if their products contain certain artificial ingredients.
The Bill’s author, Republican senator Patrick McMath, says it’s all part of the movement known as Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA. As the Louisiana Radio Network reports, McMath explained, “Giving President Trump and Secretary Kennedy the leverage that they need to bring the food manufacturers to the table to get them to change their ingredients.”
Restaurants and other food businesses which use seed oils in their cooking will have to clearly indicate such, and certain medical professionals will be required to take a one-hour course on nutrition and metabolic health every two years.
“Given how important it is for the things that we put in our bodies, how that plays out with our metabolic health and our overall health and how it relates to chronic illness (and) chronic disease, you would think that doctors would have a solid base of education on nutrition,” McMath says. “And they simply don’t.”
Portions of SB 14 do not go into effect for several years. The QR codes take effect January 1, 2028, while the school meal ingredient requirements go into effect at the start of the 2028-29 school year.
