(Radio Iowa) – A bill under consideration in the Iowa House would ban margarine and two food additives from the lunches and breakfasts served at Iowa schools. Representative Jeff Shipley, a Republican from Fairfield, is the lawmaker assigned to lead discussion of the bill.  “These additives maybe don’t do anything or maybe they’re harmful,” Shipley says, “and maybe they ought not to be there.” The bill mentions Red Dye number 40, which is made from petroleum. It’s one of a half dozen food dyes that will be banned from California school lunches starting in 2028.

“We think that’s an interesting model that we want to discuss and see what the public might have an appetite for here in Iowa,” Shipley says. Robert F. Kennedy, Junior — President Trump’s nominee to lead a key federal agency — has raised questions about the country’s food supply and the eating habits of Americans. The bill which has cleared a subcommittee in the Iowa House would ban the state’s schools from serving margarine to students.

State Representative Jeff Shipley (R-Fairfield) (official photo)

“I think it’s something that the state of Iowa needs to take a much closer look at and I think some of the science over the last 30-40 years that might have shifted in a pro-margarine direction, a lot of that has been up for reconsideration,” Shipley says. “There’s a lot of ongoing debate still happening and not necessarily a lot of consensus, but I think there is a consensus that what we’ve been doing hasn’t been working out very well.”

Shipley says he personally prefers butter and the good, healthy fat that it provides. The bill as currently written also would ban Yellow Dye 7 which is used in soaps and cosmetics. Margarine, by the way, is not naturally yellow and many states had laws requiring margarine to be colored pink or banned the sale of yellow margarine. However, Wisconsin still bans restaurants from serving margarine unless the customer asks for it.