Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Iowa Signs Broad MAHA Health Law Banning Food Dyes, Tightening School Fitness Rules and Expanding OTC Access to Ivermectin

The law bundles school nutrition and activity mandates with a plan to seek annual federal waivers that would restrict SNAP purchases and shift medical training toward nutrition.

Overview

  • Gov. Kim Reynolds signed House File 2676 into law, enacting a package of Make America Healthy Again measures that change school food rules, youth fitness requirements, and health training standards.
  • The law bars eight artificial food dyes from school meals and requires elementary students in fourth grade and below to have at least 40 minutes of daily physical activity and a 60-minute screen-time cap.
  • Iowa will apply each year for a federal SNAP waiver aimed at blocking sugary drinks and junk food from purchase with benefits, a step that requires federal approval before it takes effect.
  • The bill allows over-the-counter sales of Ivermectin and mandates extensive nutrition education for medical trainees, moves that raise regulatory questions and could alter how doctors and pharmacies operate in the state.
  • HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praised the signing as part of his national MAHA push, and the law positions Iowa as a model for other states while leaving implementation dependent on federal decisions and state-level rollout plans.