Overview
- U.S. District Judge Irene Berger issued a preliminary injunction blocking statewide enforcement of HB 2354, pausing the ban while litigation continues.
- The court said the statute is likely unconstitutionally vague because it lists specific dyes yet leaves open-ended authority to deem other color additives unsafe without standards.
- Equal-protection and bill-of-attainder claims were rejected, with the judge finding a rational public-health basis for the law’s enactment.
- The school-nutrition provision that took effect on August 1, 2025 remains in force, but the broader ban scheduled for 2028 cannot be enforced for now.
- Gov. Patrick Morrisey said the state will keep defending the law promoted under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s MAHA initiative as the industry group IACM pursues its case.