Local Lawmakers Support Food Safety, Label Measures

Also Read: Companies Push Back on PA Food Ingredient, Label Bills

HARRISBURG PA – State government proposals that deal with food safety and labeling are making their way through the current session of the Pennsylvania Legislature. Several have won support from lawmakers representing Montgomery, Berks, and Chester counties, and elsewhere.

They are meeting resistance, however, from food and beverage businesses.

The legislative intent is to improve health within the Commonwealth by limiting or restricting potentially harmful food and beverage ingredients, and/or requiring expanded or modified labels. Food and beverage producers say dealing with those issues on a state-by-state basis could be costly and possibly confusing.

As an alternative they prefer nationwide initiatives, primarily under the federal Food and Drug Administration, to deal with a single set of ingredient and label standards in all states.

PA Ingredient, Labeling Laws Under Consideration

Among bills submitted during Pennsylvania’s 2025-2026 session:

• Senate Bill 629, intended to help those with Celiac disease and other food intolerances or allergies, by ensuring that food and medicine made with allergens – such as grains containing gluten – and distributed in Pennsylvania be properly labeled;
• Senate Bill 628, which would “require that medication containing gluten, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, or sesame be properly labeled as such;
• House Bill 1130, the “Food Chemical Disclosure Law,” which would require companies to disclose their use of chemicals “generally recognized as safe” but which reportedly lack regulatory review or approval;
• House Bill 1131, prohibiting “the sale of products containing (dyes) Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2 and Green 3 in any public school in the Commonwealth;
• House Bill 1132, to define “ultra-processed foods for purposes of clarity” in the state Agriculture Code;
• House Bill 1133, requiring a label, separate and distinct from a standardized nutrition label, on food that contains a chemical preservative known as BHA, or butylated hydroxyanisole;
• House Bill 1134, requiring any food or beverage manufactured or sold in the Commonwealth that contains one or more of the following artificial dyes – Red 40, Blue 1, Blue 2, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Green 3 – to warn consumers on the packaging that the product may affect children’s behavior and health; and
• House Bill 1135, which intends to “set a ceiling” on first-generation commercial pesticides “left behind” from their use on crops, and which are already banned in the European Union and elsewhere.

These and other related bills were referred earlier during the session to respective committees in both the House and Senate. Little other action has occurred with them since, according to bill records.

Attracting Legislative Co-Sponsors

Primary sponsor of the two state Senate bills is Sen. Amanda Cappelletti, whose 17th District in part covers greater Norristown. Among Senate co-sponsors, with constituents who live in parts of the three-county area, are Tracy Pennycuick (24th District), Katie Muth (44th), Art Haywood (4th), Carolyn Comitta (19th), Scott Martin (13th), John Kane (9th), and Judith Schwank (11th).

Primary sponsor for a legislative package that includes the six state House bills is Rep. Natalie Mihalek, whose 40th District covers parts of Allegheny and Washington counties, south of Pittsburgh. Among co-sponsors are local Reps. Melissa Shusterman (157th District), Benjamin Sanchez (153rd), Danielle Friel Otten (155th), David Zimmerman (99th), and Joe Webster (150th).

The above legislators have NOT endorsed or co-sponsored every bill listed. Instead, they have selectively chosen some to support, and declined to comment on or co-sponsor others.

Additional and Related Reading

Read another story online – “Companies Push Back on PA Food Ingredient, Label Bills,” written by Emily Rodriguez and published Jan. 29 by the Pennsylvania edition of The Center Square – that describes what opponents prefer.

Our local news reporting includes Healthy Living articles about healthcare, wellness, medical providers, and medical services within, or that affect residents of, Montgomery, Berks, and Chester PA counties. Find more health-related articles here. Also, see and follow the Pottstown Health page on Facebook.