HB 1014: Education; prohibit private and public primary and secondary schools from serving or selling, or allowing a third party to serve or sell, food or beverages that contain certain synthetic dyes

Currently, Georgia law does not restrict school meals or food products generally based on artificial coloring. This bill adds a new Code section requiring that, beginning January 1, 2027, no private or public primary or secondary school may serve, sell, or allow a third party to serve or sell food or drinks containing any of seven named synthetic dyes (including Red 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6) on school grounds during the school day or as part of a school meal program. Schools could still sell noncompliant items at fundraisers held off campus or more than half an hour after the school day ends. The bill also changes Georgia's general food adulteration law (O.C.G.A. § 26-2-22 and § 26-2-26). It adds a new prohibited act barring the sale of food under a misleading invented name, and, beginning January 1, 2028, it declares any food containing those same seven dyes plus butylated hydroxyanisole and propylparaben to be legally adulterated statewide, not just in schools.

• Bans Georgia primary and secondary schools, public and private, from serving or selling food or drinks containing seven named synthetic dyes starting January 1, 2027.
• Allows schools to sell noncompliant food at fundraisers if the sale happens off school grounds or at least 30 minutes after the school day ends.
• Adds a new banned practice to Georgia's food law: selling food under an invented name that misleads about what ingredients it actually contains.
• Expands Georgia's legal definition of 'adulterated' food to include products containing the same seven synthetic dyes plus two preservatives, effective January 1, 2028.
• Defines the dyes covered using their specific Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) registry numbers so the ban targets exact chemical compounds.

Public and private primary and secondary schools in Georgia, school food service providers and third-party vendors, students who eat school meals, and any food manufacturer or seller in Georgia whose products contain the listed synthetic dyes or preservatives once the broader adulteration rule takes effect.

Starting in 2027, Georgia students would no longer be served snacks, drinks, or meals at school containing common artificial dyes found in many popular foods, forcing schools and vendors to reformulate or replace items. A year later, any food sold in Georgia with those dyes or two preservatives could be treated as legally adulterated, a broader consumer protection issue beyond schools.

• Section 1 adds new Code Section 20-2-779.5, defining 'synthetic dye' by name and CAS registry number and banning schools from serving or selling foods containing them starting January 1, 2027.
• Section 1 carves out an exception letting schools sell noncompliant items at fundraisers if sold off campus or at least half an hour after the school day ends.
• Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 26-2-22 to add selling food under a misleading invented name to the list of prohibited acts under Georgia's food adulteration law.
• Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 26-2-26 to add a new category of 'adulterated' food, effective January 1, 2028, covering food containing butylated hydroxyanisole, propylparaben, and the same seven synthetic dyes.
• Section 4 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-01-28House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-01-27House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-01-16House Hopper (House)

• Eric Bell (D, HD-075)Primary sponsor
• Jordan Ridley (R, HD-022)
• Leesa Hagan (R, HD-156)
• Dexter Sharper (D, HD-177)

• school meals
• food safety
• synthetic dyes
• food additives
• student health