Court injunction pauses West Virginia colors law

CHARLESTON, W. VA. — A district court in West Virginia has granted a preliminary injunction against a state law banning food and beverages containing synthetic colors. One of the law’s provisions, which concerns food served at public schools, already had gone into effect.

The US District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia in a Dec. 23, 2025, filing ruled in favor of the International Association of Color Manufacturers, the plaintiff. Defendants include the West Virginia Department of Health and Arvin Singh, the cabinet secretary for the department.

West Virginia on March 24, 2025, enacted HB 2354 into a law that said seven color additives are “poisonous and injurious.” The colors are Blue No. 1 and No. 2, Green No. 3, Red No. 3 and No. 40, and Yellow No. 5 and No. 6. The law states that the sale of foods containing the colors will be prohibited for sale in West Virginia, effective Jan. 1, 2028. A provision within the law states that the colors should not be used as an ingredient in any meal served in a school nutrition program, which went into effect Aug. 1, 2025.

The International Association of Color Manufacturers filed a lawsuit Oct. 6 seeking to overturn the law, arguing it violates the equal protection clause, is a prohibited bill of attainder and is unconstitutionally vague in violation of the 14^th Amendment in the US Constitution.

The district court in its Dec. 23 filing agreed with the association that the law is unconstitutionally vague.

“Because there are no criteria to guide the determination of additional color additives as ‘poisonous and injurious,’ HB 2354 provides no notice as to the inclusion of additional color additives, leaving the door open for arbitrary enforcement,” said Irene C. Berger, US district judge for the Southern District of West Virginia. “The court, therefore, finds the plaintiff is likely to succeed on its vagueness claim.”

The court added that the association demonstrated its members will suffer irreparable harm because of the law.

Supporters of the law say the synthetic colors present potential health issues such as hyperactivity in children. One example was the Southampton University study in the United Kingdom. Published Sept. 6, 2007, in The Lancet, the study concluded that artificial colors in the diet result in increased hyperactivity in 3-year-old and 8- and 9-year-old children.

The US Food and Drug Administration allows Blue No. 1 and No. 2, Green No. 3, Red No. 40, and Yellow No. 5 and No. 6 in foods and beverages. The FDA early in 2025 ruled the use of Red No. 3 in food no longer will be allowed in the United States with enforcement beginning Jan. 15, 2027. The FDA intends to phase out all petroleum-based synthetic dyes from the nation’s food supply although the agency has issued no mandate.