POLISCOPE
Back to bills
Part ofBoards →

The civic record

Read. Follow. Verify.
HB 874NORTH CAROLINASession 2025State Billin committee
High Impact

North Carolina bans specific synthetic food additives and dyes in public school meals

Original title: North Carolina Healthy Schools Act.

Last action · April 10, 2025: Ref To Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House (House action)Sponsors: Jonathan Almond and 5 others

Bill progressHistory & official text ↓
Introduced
Committee
Floor Vote
Passed
Law

Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.

What This Bill Would Do

Local school boards in North Carolina are prohibited from serving or selling foods containing specific chemical additives and artificial dyes, including Potassium Bromate and Red Dye 40, across all public school grounds during the school day, effective with the 2025-2026 school year.

Why it matters

Public schools, charter schools, regional schools, and laboratory schools must alter their meal and vending inventories to remove eleven banned chemical substances, while parents retain the legal right to pack foods containing those ingredients for their own children.

Who It Would Affect

Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.

Directly affected

Local boards of education

Local school boards are prohibited from allowing ultra-processed foods on school grounds and must submit compliance certifications to the Department of Public Instruction.

Directly affected

Department of Public Instruction

The Department must create a standardized certification form and publish a public website list of schools meeting the requirements.

Directly affected

Public school students

Key Facts

  • Local school boards are barred from allowing school food authorities or third parties to serve or sell foods containing eleven specified chemical additives and dyes on school grounds during the school day.
  • The Department of Public Instruction must create a standardized compliance certification form for local school boards and publish a website list of certified public schools.
  • Parents and guardians retain the right to provide students with foods containing the banned ingredients during the school day.
  • The restriction explicitly applies to regional schools, charter schools, and laboratory school nutrition programs.
Show all 5 facts
  • The legislation takes effect when it becomes law and applies starting with the 2025-2026 school year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can parents still send food from home with these ingredients for their children?
Yes. The act explicitly states that nothing prevents a parent or guardian from providing a student with s during the school day.
What is the Department of Public Instruction required to do?
The Department must create a standardized certification form for local school boards and publish and maintain a website list of all public schools certified as not serving or selling s.

What else do you want to know?

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Follow the record

Votes, people, money & the original source

Where This Stands

Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.

Procedural history

3 actions
  1. Apr 10, 2025House
    Ref To Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
  2. Apr 10, 2025House
    Passed 1st Reading
  3. Apr 9, 2025HouseIntroduced
    Filed

Version history

Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.

View official text →

Lobbying Activity

No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.

Full breakdown

Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.

Sponsors

Jonathan AlmondHouse · District 73RepublicanPrimary sponsor
Allen ChesserHouse · District 25RepublicanPrimary sponsor
Matthew WinslowHouse · District 7RepublicanPrimary sponsor
Eric AgerHouse · District 114DemocraticCosponsor
Rodney PierceHouse · District 27DemocraticCosponsor
Show 1 more sponsor
Phil RubinHouse · District 40DemocraticCosponsor

Connected Entities

Brominated Vegetable Oil, Blue Dye 1, Red Dye 40 and 9 more
otherBrominated Vegetable Oil“Listed as a banned ingredient under the definition of ultra-processed food.”Map →
otherBlue Dye 1“Listed as a banned ingredient under the definition of ultra-processed food.”Map →
otherRed Dye 40“Listed as a banned ingredient under the definition of ultra-processed food.”Map →
otherGreen Dye 3“Listed as a banned ingredient under the definition of ultra-processed food.”Map →
otherYellow Dye 6“Listed as a banned ingredient under the definition of ultra-processed food.”Map →
OrganizationDepartment of Public Instruction“Creates compliance certification forms and publishes a list of compliant public ”Map →
otherTitanium Dioxide“Listed as a banned ingredient under the definition of ultra-processed food.”Map →
otherRed Dye 3“Listed as a banned ingredient under the definition of ultra-processed food.”Map →
otherBlue Dye 2“Listed as a banned ingredient under the definition of ultra-processed food.”Map →
otherPropylparaben“Listed as a banned ingredient under the definition of ultra-processed food.”Map →
otherPotassium Bromate“Listed as a banned ingredient under the definition of ultra-processed food.”Map →
otherYellow Dye 5“Listed as a banned ingredient under the definition of ultra-processed food.”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.ncleg.gov

Analysis Score

0–100
  • Significance75
    How much this matters to a regular citizen
  • Controversy40
    Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
  • Entertainment5
    Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
  • Buzz50
    Current news / social attention level

Publisher tools

Share or embed this record

POLISCOPE publisher tools

Share or embed this record