As students file back into classrooms, they may notice some of their cafeteria and vending machine options have changed. The now-active Arizona Healthy Schools Act bans public schools that participate in federal meal programs from serving foods containing 11 specific chemical additives and synthetic dyes on campus from midnight before until 30 minutes after the school day.
Some districts started planning for the change when the law passed in 2025.
Julie Peterson is the director of food and nutrition at the Tempe Union High School District. She said they started reviewing the ingredients in their menu items last year and worked with vendors to find healthier alternatives.
“A big one was Gatorade,” Peterson said. “A lot of the Gatorades that we served previously had some of the dyes in them and Gatorade was able to reformulate those and take those dyes out and use a coloring that’s based on a juice.”
Peterson said some students have noticed the drink colors are not as vibrant, but for the most part, it’s been a smooth transition. The changes also apply to treats brought in for classroom celebrations and daytime on-campus fundraisers, but not what parents send in their children's lunches.
“So if they want to put something in there like a cupcake that has the red dye or the blue dye in it, that is fine as long as that student is eating that and not sharing it with other students,” Peterson said.
She said the district has also seen an increase in food costs.
“I'm sure you've gone to the grocery store and seen the impacts there,” Peterson said. “That does also impact schools and healthier choices usually do cost more.”
The Phoenix Union High School District started preparing for the changes last year as well. In an email to KJZZ, spokesperson Richard Franco wrote:
“We are running our food services smoothly and with the addition of new menu items last year, we are hopeful that our students will continue to enjoy the selections offered on their campuses. We host regular tastings with our students to introduce possible new menu items and get feedback from them on what they like and do not like to ensure our food selection mirrors their preferred tastes.”
The Tucson Unified School District had fewer changes to make because it had already implemented a ‘clean label initiative.’
“So in terms of foods being served on our menus that contain these ingredients, there was no impact because we've already had this in place,” said Lindsay Aguilar, TUSD’s director of food services.
As a district with elementary school students, TUSD is more likely to have parents wanting to bring in celebratory treats. Aguilar said they’ve already received a lot of questions about what’s allowed and they have a solution.
“We do have snacks and treats and beverages that are available through our catering services at TUSD food services that are compliant,” Aguilar said. “So there's products that are developed for K-12 for meal programs that don't contain these ingredients and then also meet the nutrition standards for foods available to students during the school day.”
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