SB 745 West Virginia Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Relating to requirements for school nutrition programs

SB 745 prohibits specific food additives in West Virginia school meals, banning dyes like Red 40 and Yellow 5 starting August 1, 2025, and additional preservatives like BHT and artificial sweeteners starting August 1, 2027. It limits added sugars to no more than 5% of daily calories and requires a minimum fiber-to-carbohydrate ratio of 1 gram of fiber per 10 grams of carbs in school meals. Schools must post full ingredient lists for all breakfast and lunch menu items online. The bill directly affects all West Virginia public schools operating nutrition programs, aiming to improve meal nutritional standards.

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Feb 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 4, 2026 Last action Mar 6, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Committee Substitute → Committee Substitute for the Committee Substitute · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was revised to broaden its application to all public schools and update the reporting committee. It introduced new criteria for granting waivers, requiring schools to prove that compliant products are unavailable or too expensive, rather than just unavailable. The sugar reduction thresholds and the list of banned additives remain unchanged, while the bill's sponsor list and reporting requirements were updated.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded from general 'school nutrition programs' to specifically include 'public school nutrition programs' under the State Board of Education's supervision.

ELIGIBILITY

Waiver criteria were expanded to include situations where compliant products are available but cost more than existing inventory options.

REQUIREMENT

The text was updated to clarify that waivers require proof of unavailability or higher cost, replacing the previous single criterion of unavailability.

The sponsor list was updated to include Senator Taylor, and the reporting committee was changed from Health and Human Resources to Finance.

SCOPE

The bill's applicability was explicitly limited to public schools under the State Board of Education.

TECHNICAL

Minor formatting and punctuation adjustments were made throughout the text, including capitalization in the sugar reduction clause.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 27, 2026

How they voted

27–5

Passed · 1 other

Total votes 33

Feb 27, 2026

D Democratic2

2 Nay

100% Nay

R Republican31

27 Yea 3 Nay 1

87% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 2, 2026

Committee

To House Education

lower

Mar 2, 2026

Committee

To Education then Finance

lower

Mar 2, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

Feb 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Senate (Roll No. 259)

upper

Feb 18, 2026

Committee

To Finance

upper

Feb 18, 2026

Committee

Committee substitute reported, but first to Finance

upper

Feb 4, 2026

Committee

To Health and Human Resources

upper

Feb 4, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in Senate

upper

Feb 4, 2026

Committee

To Health and Human Resources then Finance

upper

1 primary · 2 co-sponsors