States Aim to Reduce Ultra-Processed Foods in Schools

Over the past year, ultra-processed foods have become a growing focus in the conversation around school food and child nutrition. Upon Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s appointment as head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, states began to introduce a flurry of bills in line with his broader agenda, including reducing ultra-processed foods. 

In May 2025, the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission identified ultra-processed foods as a top concern in its Make Our Children Healthy Again Assessment, solidifying the department’s direction and priorities. 

Ultra-processed foods have continued to persist despite their link to lower academic performance, depression and anxiety, and a host of chronic health issues like heart disease and Type-2 diabetes. Today, ultra-processed foods account for 55% of calories consumed on average by Americans aged one year and older. Ultra-processed foods are often packed with artificial additives, preservatives, and excess sugar, salt, and fat. They are increasingly common in school cafeterias due to a lack of infrastructure in most school kitchens, limited training opportunities for school food professionals, and funding cuts to programs that help schools buy fresh, whole ingredients. 

The Chef Ann Foundation believes all children deserve access to whole, nourishing food that supports their well-being and academic success. That’s why we’re encouraged to see a wave of state-level legislation aimed at reducing ultra-processed foods in school meals. These bills represent an important step toward prioritizing health and nutritional outcomes; however, they are only one piece of a larger puzzle in moving the American diet toward fresh, whole ingredients that are scratch-cooked and setting stronger nutritional standards in schools across the country. 

States Leading Reform

Over the past year, over 130 bills have been introduced aimed at regulating ultra-processed foods and improving nutrition. States are pushing the industry to reform its standards. These legislative efforts take many forms—from statewide bans on specific ingredients to restrictions on dyes and additives in school food and even warning labels on products containing colorings linked to negative health effects. 

No matter the approach, the message is clear: the food industry will be pushed to change in response to this growing wave of legislative pressure across the country. 

LOUISIANA: LABELING REQUIREMENTS

On June 25, 2025, Louisiana took a bold step against ultra-processed foods as Governor Jeff Landry signed SB 14 into law. The bill requires disclosure on any food product sold in the state containing over 40 specified ingredients and bans more than 15 of those ingredients from school meals. 

Secretary Kennedy’s presence at the signing underscored the state’s alignment with broader MAHA values. 

Unlike many ultra-processed bills, this Louisiana bill combines statewide labeling requirements with targeted school meal reforms. The law goes into effect in 2028, giving companies and schools time to adjust. 

UTAH: BILLS THAT BAN INGREDIENTS

Several bills across the states applied only to school meals and focused closely on banning specific ingredients. For example, Utah passed Food Additives in Schools (HB 402) in March which will prohibit any public school in the state from selling, donating, offering, or serving any foods containing the following ingredients by the 2026-2027 school year: potassium bromate, propylparaben, Blue No. 1, Blue No. 2, Green No. 3, Red No. 3, Red No. 40, Yellow No. 5, and Yellow No. 6. 

The Utah bill represents a subset of bills focused on school food, although not all were passed and signed into law. Arkansas, Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, California, and West Virginia were all states that introduced ultra-processed food bills specific to school food. 

Many states tried to pass bills banning specific ingredients, but industry leaders and state agency professionals opposed them. Likely, some states with bills that did not pass in 2025 will reintroduce them in the next state legislative session and, in some cases, make amendments to meet specific demands from the opposition. 

TEXAS: SCHOOLS’ ROAD TO COMPLIANCE

School districts in states that have passed laws related to ultra-processed foods must now work to comply with new regulatory requirements, many of which preempt existing federal law. 

The road to implementing these new requirements will not be without challenges. The laws often come with tight timelines, requiring districts to adjust their purchasing, menu, budgets, and food preparation practices. They also arrive amid new financial pressures on school meal programs, exacerbated by federal cuts to key farm-to-school initiatives and SNAP . This disconnect highlights a dissonance between MAHA’s call for stronger nutrition standards and the Trump administration’s budget priorities, which have reduced support for the very programs needed to implement those standards effectively.

To address some of these barriers for schools, Texas’s SB 25, passed on June 22, 2025, is an example of a bill that will bring more regulation to ultra-processed foods while providing assistance with research to better understand how to address ultra-processed foods in the future. In addition to requiring manufacturers to apply warning labels on over 44 products, SB 25 creates the Texas Nutrition Advisory Committee, which will be tasked with reviewing the latest scientific research on the health impacts of ultra-processed foods and additives, evaluating the relationship between diet and public health outcomes, and providing education and policy guidance on nutrition-related issues statewide. 

Is It Enough?

Although these state bills represent progress toward improving American children’s health, banning specific ingredients won’t be enough in the long-term effort to shift school food purchasing in alignment with broader sustainability, health, and wellness values. Scratch-cooking in schools offers a solution to truly help improve school meals. In order to do this, schools need support to invest in things like modern kitchen equipment, comprehensive staff training in culinary skills, and a higher reimbursement rate that allows districts to afford healthier, less processed ingredients. 

Further, by continuously exposing kids to fresh, scratch-made meals, schools can cultivate positive eating habits for life — improving long-term public health outcomes and decreasing health care costs associated with diet-related conditions and disease. Scratch-made meals offer better-quality diets, which are linked to improved grades and test scores, increased work capacity, and longer attention spans.

Additionally, school food in the U.S. is a $23.5 billion industry. Because of its sheer scale, the school food sector has an outsized impact on shaping the nation’s food system. When schools are equipped to serve scratch-made meals, they can source more whole products from local and regional farms and other food businesses. For every dollar spent on farm-to-school programs, an extra $0.60 – $2.16 is generated in regional economic activity. For farmers, fishers, and ranchers, selling to schools can provide a steady income stream, diversify their markets, and offer reliable sales and fair pay. 

Chef Ann Foundation believes that scratch cooking is the key to transforming school food–for kids and for the broader food system. Reducing ultra-processed foods is a critical step, but the real solution lies in equipping schools to prepare meals from whole, minimally processed ingredients. Scratch-cooked meals not only nourish students with better quality food, they also build lifelong healthy habits. At the same time, they create opportunities to support local agriculture, invest in school kitchen staff and infrastructure, and strengthen communities.