Relating to prohibiting certain additives from being included in food and drinks provided by school districts.
HB 3736 prohibits Texas public school districts and charter schools from serving food or drinks containing specific artificial color additives in school meals. The bill bans nine listed additives (including red 40, yellow 5, blue 1, and caramel) and any substantially similar substitutes. This policy directly affects school nutrition programs, requiring them to remove these additives from all meals served to students starting the 2025-2026 school year. The law does not apply to food sold in vending machines or à la carte items outside of regular meals.
Bill status
in committee
1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Mar 26, 2025
Last action Mar 26, 2025
Floor votes
How they voted
No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
3
Key actions
0
Committee
1
Mar 26, 2025
Committee
Referred to Public Education
lower
Mar 26, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
lower
2 primary · 10 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Helen Kerwin
RRepublican
P
Joanne Shofner
RRepublican
Co
Caroline Harris Davila
RRepublican
Co
Cas Garcia Hernandez
DDemocratic
Co
Cody Vasut
RRepublican
Co
David Lowe
RRepublican
Co
Don McLaughlin
RRepublican
Co
Ellen Troxclair
RRepublican
Co
Janis Holt
RRepublican
Co
Mike Olcott
RRepublican
Co
Valoree Swanson
RRepublican
Co
Wes Virdell
RRepublican
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