In a 105-28 vote Sunday, SB 25/HB 25, also known as the ‘Make Texas Healthy Again’ bill, an amendment now excludes supplements from the requirements of the legislation. However, ready-to-drink products are not, items many supplement companies produce.
“If you’re a company that plays in the ready-to-drink and supplement space, you’re not thrilled about this,” Kyle Turk, vice president of government affairs at the Natural Products Association, told NutraIngredients. “This is not common sense especially when the formulas for powdered items and supplements are similar.”
He added that these warning labels become a “huge headache” for companies already saddled with multiple label stipulations from several states.
The warning labels made possible by SB 25/HB 25 would read: ‘WARNING: This product contains an artificial color, chemical, or food additive that is banned in Australia, Canada, the European Union, or the United Kingdom.”
Referencing laws in other countries that ban certain chemical ingredients is like “farming out scientific policy to other nations rather than doing the legwork ourselves,” Turk said.
Sharing similar concerns, the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) said it opposes these provisions because they would require warning labels on dietary supplements based not on U.S. regulatory standards but on actions taken by foreign governments.
“This could mislead consumers, stigmatize safe and federally regulated products and undermine the authority of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,” said Jeff Ventura, vice president of communications at CRN. “Dietary supplements are a distinct product category under federal law, subject to rigorous safety, manufacturing and quality standards, and should not be lumped together with conventional foods in a one-size-fits-all labeling scheme.”
According to CRN data, the dietary supplement industry accounts for over $9.7 billion in total economic impact, over 16,000 direct jobs and $744.4 million in tax revenue for Texas.
Industries response
A coalition of companies and organizations doing business in Texas—including the Texas Retailers Association, the Consumer Brands Association, the Food Ingredient Safety Coalition, the Texas Beverage Association and a group of Chambers of Commerce—wrote a letter to the Texas legislature voicing strong opposition to the food labeling section.
“As currently written, the food labeling provision in this bill casts an incredibly wide net—triggering warning labels on everyday grocery items based on assertions that foreign governments have banned such items, rather than on standards established by Texas regulators or by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,” the coalition wrote. “Texas should not get ahead of the national process and risk developing its own patchwork labeling system that may well put local and state-based companies at a disadvantage.”
Michael D. Meirovitz, senior director of government relations at CRN, also wrote to the legislature that under federal law, dietary ingredients when used in dietary supplements are not considered food additives but rather are subject to specific safety, manufacturing and other quality standards for this distinct category of product.
“Dietary supplements, while a sub-category of food under federal law, are distinct from conventional food products,” he noted.
Commercial speech
In a letter addressed to Governor Greg Abbott prior to Sunday’s vote, Daniel Fabricant, PhD, CEO and president at NPA, wrote that the organization strongly opposed SB 25 and HB 25 as drafted. He explained the pieces of legislation diverged from the longstanding framework afforded by the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA).
“We are deeply concerned that this legislation imposes compelled commercial speech requirements raising serious constitutional issues,” Dr. Fabricant stated.
Businesses must include specific disclaimers that go beyond factual and uncontroversial information, he added.
“These compelled statements effectively require businesses to disparage their own products and suggest ineffectiveness or danger, even without substantiated risk,” Dr. Fabricant noted. “This language misleads consumers by implying that all affected products lack scientific merit, when in fact many natural products are supported by robust evidence and long-standing safe usage.”
The Texas senate convenes June 2 to vote on SB 25. If the bill becomes law, it will take effect September 1. The legislation also seeks to establish a Nutrition Advisory Committee in Texas to examine the impact of nutrition on human health and the connection between ultra-processed foods and the prevalence of chronic disease and other chronic health issues.
