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Dozens of people line up to make it into the Senate Health and Welfare Committee meeting at the State Capitol on Tuesday, April 30, 2025. Javier Gallegos Sen. Gerald Boudreaux, D-Lafayette, speaks during a Senate Health and Welfare Committee meeting at the State Capitol on Tuesday, April 30, 2025.
Javier Gallegos Sen. Patrick McMath, R-Covington, speaks while presenting SB14 during a Senate Health and Welfare Committee meeting at the State Capitol on Tuesday, April 30, 2025. Javier Gallegos Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save A bill that proposes to bring the Make America Healthy Again movement to Louisiana went before a packed Senate Health and Welfare Committee Wednesday, which ultimately advanced the bill out of committee and to the full Senate.
The proposed law, Senate Bill 14 , is part of a national effort to reshape food policy led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. MAHA’s broad agenda includes regulating soda and candy purchases under social welfare programs, removing fluoride from public water systems, rolling back pharmaceutical interventions and removing ultra-processed food from schools.
A massive crowd fills the Senate Health and Welfare Committee meeting room during the discussion of SB14 by Sen. Patrick McMath, left, at the State Capitol on Tuesday, April 30, 2025. The crowd was large enough to fill an overflow room upstairs.
The end goals are to curb obesity, reduce chronic illness, and restore individual autonomy in health decisions. Louisiana consistently ranks near the bottom in national health metrics, including obesity, diabetes, and child well-being. Sen.
Patrick McMath, a Republican from Covington who authored the bill, said he worked with the Trump administration and Kennedy to craft the measure. “This movement is taking place across the country,” said McMath, who said other states passing similar legislation have had it fast-tracked for federal approval. Under the “MAHA” banner, McMath, with the vocal support of Republican Gov.
Jeff Landry and Surgeon General Dr. Ralph Abraham, is aiming to enact several nutrition-related reforms. They include: Banning certain artificial ingredients and additives in school meals Requiring physicians to receive continuing education in nutrition Mandating QR codes on packaged food labels disclosing certain ingredients Requiring restaurants to disclose use of seed oils on menus Directing the state to apply for a federal waiver to restrict the purchase of sugary drinks with SNAP benefits While nearly all seven present senators on the committee expressed their support for the goals of the bill, the three Democratic members voiced concerns about the SNAP restriction, which would ban the purchase of any drink with over five grams of added sugar or containing any artificial sweetener.
Drinks that contain milk, milk substitutes, added electrolytes or added vitamins are exempt. SNAP concerns Sen. Katrina Jackson-Andrews, D-Monroe, said she supports the bill’s broad goals, but opposes limiting what families on food assistance can buy.
She said many rely on SNAP to give their children treats for special occasions like birthdays or school field trips. Sen. Katrina R.
Jackson-Andrews, D-Monroe, speaks during a Senate Health and Welfare Committee meeting at the State Capitol on Tuesday, April 30, 2025. “They’re depending on giving their child something decent with their SNAP benefits,” Jackson-Andrews said. Another Democrat on the panel, Sen.
Jay Luneau from Alexandria, criticized what he viewed as a disproportionate focus on SNAP recipients rather than addressing the broader affordability of healthy food. “If I go to a fast food place and I pull up there and order a combo meal, it’s $6, $7. If I get a salad, it’s $12,” Luneau said.
“We have to do something about that if we’re going to propose this kind of stuff.” Sen. W.
Jay Luneau, D-Alexandria, holds up a box of Skittles and asks if the food dyes in it will be banned under SB14 during a Senate Health and Welfare Committee meeting at the State Capitol on Tuesday, April 30, 2025. Sen. Gerald Boudreaux, D-Lafayette, objected to what he viewed as government overreach.
“The parents should decide what’s best for their kids,” Boudreaux said. SNAP success The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program serves roughly 850,000 Louisianans — roughly 1 in 5 — including nearly 390,000 children. More than 80% of eligible people are enrolled.
SNAP has a long history of alleviating food insecurity, the leading indicator of wellbeing for children in the U.S. It's a popular program because it's easy, with participants using a preloaded debit card accepted nearly everywhere groceries are sold.
“It preserves the dignity and autonomy of recipients,” said Craig Gundersen, an economist who studies food assistance programs at Baylor University. “They shop alongside neighbors and friends.” Changing it to be more restrictive, said Gundersen, could make the program less effective because fewer people may participate.
“From a research perspective, this would be a disaster,” Gundersen said. “Programs that demean individuals..
. people don't like to participate in them.” He pointed to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, which is more restrictive, limiting meats, for example, to canned tuna.
Despite serving a similar population, WIC’s participation rate in Louisiana is around 34% , far lower than SNAP’s. Support across sectors Representatives from several organizations spoke broadly in support of the bill, including the Louisiana Hospital Organization, the Foundation for Government Accountability, Baton Rouge General, Blue Cross Blue Shield Louisiana, the American Sugar Cane League and Louisiana Citizen Advocacy Group, along with a wellness coach, pediatrician, dietician, farmer and functional pharmacist. “These dyes and chemicals are all risk and no possible benefit,” said Dr.
Wyche T. Coleman, deputy surgeon general at the Louisiana Department of Health, referring to the ingredients that would be banned from school meals. “They have no place in school lunchrooms.
” Dr. Tracy Lemelle, a pediatrician and medical director of Blue Cross Blue Shield Louisiana, described how high-sugar, high-fat meals contribute to Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and even anxiety and attention disorders in children. “It all comes back to what the kids are taking in,” she said.
Industry opposition Representatives from the Consumer Brands Association and the Louisiana Beverage Association spoke against the proposed legislation, saying there were challenges with labeling that would impact over 60,000 products and cost millions of dollars. They said that because Louisiana-specific labeling isn’t possible, the law could lead to higher costs for consumers. But both groups positioned themselves as willing collaborators and thanked McMath for working with them.
Democratic Sen. Luneau, at one point holding up a red Gatorade and processed foods as examples, pointed out that hair dyes are potential carcinogens, but they are not vilified like food dyes. Louisiana’s chemical industry is also a major contributor to carcinogens in the air, yet that often escapes scrutiny, he said.
“We tend to turn our back sometimes and let those things go,” he said. “We need to consider all of those things.” McMath acknowledged the broader environmental contributors to poor health but said food reform is the most direct, achievable step lawmakers can take right now.
Sen. Patrick McMath, R-Covington, speaks while presenting SB14 during a Senate Health and Welfare Committee meeting at the State Capitol on Tuesday, April 30, 2025. “While I would love to wave a magic wand and clean up air and water .
.. I think the lowest hanging fruit, if you will, is the food that we’re putting in our bodies,” he said.
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