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MAHA backers refuse to stop pushing for healthier food as Obama-appointed judge deals blow
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The “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement hit the ground running in 2025 — pushing a wave of health policy changes nationwide, especially around food and nutrition. Now supporters vow that one court setback will not slow them down.
A West Virginia judge paused enforcement of parts of H.B. 2354 — the state law restricting certain food dyes and preservatives — during the holiday week, on Dec. 23. That triggered swift backlash from state leaders and advocates who say the fight is only intensifying.
In her ruling, Judge Irene Berger — appointed by former President Obama — said the law is “unconstitutionally vague because it fails to provide sufficient notice and invites arbitrary enforcement.”
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She added that the statute does not spell out how the West Virginia Department of Health should determine whether color additives beyond those specifically listed are “poisonous and injurious.”
Berger was nominated in 2009 by Obama to serve as a U.S. district judge for the Southern District of West Virginia.
A West Virginia judge appointed by former President Barack Obama has paused a Make America Healthy Again food dye ban, calling the law “unconstitutionally vague” in a major setback for the health movement. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
West Virginia’s House Bill 2354, signed by Gov. Patrick Morrisey, aims to phase out specific artificial dyes in stages.
Beginning on Aug. 1 of this year, seven dyes were banned from school lunches — and starting Jan. 1, 2028, the same dyes, along with two preservatives, would be banned from food products sold statewide.
The judge’s new ruling does not apply to school nutrition programs — so the school-lunch portion remains on track even as the broader legal fight plays out.
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Red Dye No. 3, Red Dye No. 40, Yellow Dye No. 5, Yellow Dye No. 6, Blue Dye No. 1, Blue Dye No. 2 and Green Dye No. 3 were all banned from school lunches starting in August.
The same food dyes, plus the preservatives butylated hydroxyanisole and propylparaben, will be banned from all food items sold in the state beginning in 2028.
The food dye ban in West Virginia is “unconstitutionally vague because it fails to provide sufficient notice and invites arbitrary enforcement,” said a judge. Others disagree vehemently. (iStock)
Gov. Morrisey, a Republican, issued a statement blasting the decision as a detour, calling it “premature and incorrectly decided.”
“West Virginia will continue to defend its authority to protect the health and well-being of our citizens, especially children,” his statement said. “We are reviewing our legal options and will continue to press forward with our efforts to get harmful crap out of our food supply.”
Morrisey told Fox News Digital in an interview that “West Virginia has set the standard for the nation when it comes to protecting children from harmful ingredients in food.”
“Since we acted, other states have stepped forward and manufacturers have already begun changing formulas, because they see where this is headed,” Morrisey said.
“We are reviewing our legal options and will continue to press forward with our efforts to get harmful crap out of our food supply,” said Gov. Patrick Morrisey in reaction to the judge’s decision. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“Children who consume these dyes across many foods, day after day, during critical stages of development, face a higher risk of chronic disease,” he added. “West Virginia acted because protecting children’s health should never be optional, and we remain proud to lead this effort.”
Red dye gives food a bright cherry red color. It has been linked to behavioral issues in children, while non-human studies have linked the dye to cancer, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of Health and Human Services, has made removing artificial dyes from America’s food supply one of his priorities during his work as a member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet.
“Artificial food dyes offer zero nutritional value.”
During his first trip as America’s lead healthcare official in March, Kennedy spoke in Martinsburg alongside Gov. Morrisey, who said his state’s ban plan and the Democrat scion’s choice to visit the area first showed that the “MAHA” movement “begins right here in West Virginia.”
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The debate over artificial dyes has become a flashpoint for MAHA-aligned supporters. Many see the legal challenge as proof the movement is beginning to hit real resistance. They see it as a reason to push back hard, rather than retreat.
Liana Werner-Gray, nutritionist and author of “The Earth Diet,” told Fox News Digital that “artificial food dyes offer zero nutritional value.”
The native Australian said the European Union (EU) requires warning labels on products containing several common artificial dyes “because of links to activity and attention effects in children.”
“I know who is going to win — because there is nothing more powerful than moms protecting their children,” said a MAHA advocate. (Fox News Digital)
Werner-Gray added that “from a preventative health standpoint, removing unnecessary additives is a straightforward way to reduce avoidable risk.”
She noted that injunction or not, one bright spot is that the conversation has shifted.
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“Parents are asking why ingredients linked to behavioral and neurological concerns are still common in children’s food, and that question isn’t going away,” she said. “They want it to go away, they want us to go away with this, but we won’t.”
Vani Hari, better known as the “Food Babe,” told Fox News Digital that “the judicial system is going to see the might of the MAHA movement.”
“There is nothing more powerful than moms protecting their children.”
“I know who is going to win — because there is nothing more powerful than moms protecting their children,” said Hari, who is based in North Carolina.
The case was brought by the International Association of Color Manufacturers, an organization based in Washington, D.C., that alleged the West Virginia bill causes economic harm to its member companies.
“The statute arbitrarily and irrationally targets color additives no U.S. agency — state or federal — nor any court has ever found to be unsafe,” IACM said in a statement announcing its suit, adding that the ban also lacks “scientific evidence.”
West Virginia’s governor, for his part, said the decision by the Obama-appointed judge is legally flawed. Morrisey said he believes the decision will be reversed.
California, Virginia, Utah and Arizona have sought to enact similar bans focused largely on children’s school lunches.
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Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel and Charles Creitz contributed reporting.
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A North Carolina woman whose disappearance in 2001 triggered a 24-year search is now facing criminal charges from the year she vanished.
Michele Hundley Smith, now 63, was located Feb. 20 at an undisclosed location within North Carolina after detectives received new information about her case, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office said.
Smith was 38 when her husband reported that she left their Eden home Dec. 9, 2001, to go Christmas shopping in Martinsville, Virginia, and never returned. Her vehicle was never found.
An extensive investigation followed, and, despite years of investigative work, her whereabouts remained unknown until last week.
The 63-year-old woman posted $2,000 bond on a failure to appear charge related to a DWI from the month before she vanished for 24 years. (Robeson County Sheriff’s Office)
Authorities said Smith told investigators she left on her own accord and referenced “domestic issues.”
Sheriff Sam Page told Fox News Digital the sheriff’s office had no prior record of domestic incidents at the home. No criminal charges are expected in her disappearance. However, following her identification, investigators discovered an outstanding order for arrest dating back to 2001.
A missing persons flyer circulated at the time of Michele Hundely Smith’s disappearance in December 2001. (Bring Michele Hundely Smith Home/Facebook)
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In a statement, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office said that, after consultation with the District Attorney’s Office and further investigation, authorities identified an outstanding order for arrest for Smith for failure to appear.
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The order stemmed from a DWI charge issued by the Eden Police Department Nov. 11, 2001. Smith failed to appear in court Dec. 27, 2001, for that charge, the statement said.
On Feb. 25, 2026, Smith was taken into custody by the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office at the request of Rockingham County authorities. She later posted a $2,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Rockingham County District Court March 26, 2026.
A missing mom found alive after 23 years reveals she left due to domestic issues. (Bring Michele Hundely Smith Home/Facebook)
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On Thursday, the New York Post reported it had located Smith in a trailer in a rural community near the South Carolina state line. Smith told the outlet she is trying to make amends with her daughter and the family she walked out on decades ago.
“My daughter is forgiving me. We are in contact, so leave me alone,” she told the outlet.
Smith’s neighbors said she had “been here for years and years” and mostly keeps to herself.
“We asked why she didn’t come out of the house much, and she said her husband passed. He passed last year. … She was really sad about it. She said she was depressed and stayed inside,” the neighbor said.
Michele Hundely Smith disappeared after leaving her home in North Carolina to go Christmas shopping in Virginia in December 2001. (Bring Michele Hundely Smith Home/Facebook)
In a 2018 interview on “The Vanished Podcast,” her daughter, Amanda Hundley, said her mother’s marriage was unraveling under the weight of alcohol abuse, infidelity and escalating marital arguments.
Smith had recently lost her job at a veterinary practice after being fired for drinking on the job, Hundley said.
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“My dad didn’t like the fact that my mom hid her drinking. I knew about it, and I was the only one. And I felt, you know, I was young, and I felt obligated not to say anything to betray my mom,” Hundley said on the podcast.
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According to Hundley, her father suspected the drinking but did not fully understand the extent of it until after Smith vanished.
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“He said, ‘Do you know where she kept the bottles at?’ And I showed them we had a little red building outside, and it was full of rum bottles, the empties, the ones that she had already drunk,” recalled Hundley, who was 14 at the time.
The couple’s relationship had also deteriorated. Hundley said both her parents had affairs during the marriage. She described frequent arguments that “got physical a few times.”
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Southeast
Atlanta-area police blast parents over vodka martini packed in school lunch: ‘That is NOT apple juice’
MAHA eyes SNAP, school lunch restrictions for junk food
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss the Trump administration’s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ initiative, detailing new efforts to restrict ultra-processed foods in school lunches and limiting SNAP benefit purchases.
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An Atlanta-area police department issued a blunt notice to parents after officers claimed a child brought a vodka-based beverage to school — tucked beside Doritos in a packed lunch.
The City of South Fulton Police Department sounded off about the incident in a now-viral Facebook post, warning parents to “CHECK. THE. LUNCHBOX.”
“Say Twin… Before you send them babies off to school… CHECK. THE. LUNCHBOX. Because why are we getting reports of juice boxes sitting next to… Cutwater margaritas??” the department wrote.
Officials also shared a photo of the alleged lunchbox, containing what appears to be a child’s lunch, Doritos and a Cutwater Lemon Drop Martini.
The police department shared a photo of a Cutwater canned cocktail in a lunchbox. (City of South Fulton Police Department via Facebook)
“That is NOT Capri Sun. That is NOT Apple Juice. That is a whole ‘Parent had a long night’ starter pack,” the department wrote. “Now little Johnny done pulled up to 3rd period talking about: ‘Who want fruit snacks?’ knowing good and well he got a Lemon Drop Martini in the zipper pocket.”
Cutwater Lemon Drop Martinis, as found in the lunchbox, are 11% ABV ready-to-drink cocktails made with vodka, triple sec, lemon juice and natural flavors.
They come in 12-ounce cans, similar in appearance to a soda can.
The City of South Fulton Police Department issued a statement after the apparent mishap. (City of South Fulton Police Department via Facebook)
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The department said it understands mornings can be hectic, but issued a stern notice to parents to “TIGHTEN UP.”
“Your child shouldn’t be the only one in the cafeteria with a beverage that requires an ID,” authorities wrote. “If it says 12% ABV… it does NOT belong next to a PB&J.”
Officials also provided a “quick parent checklist,” with items including: “Homework,” “Lunch packed,” and “Alcoholic beverages.”
Boxes of Cutwater Tiki Rum Mai Tai and Strawberry Margarita canned cocktails. (Gado/Getty Images)
“Check the lunchbox before the Fulton County Schools Police resource officers gotta do inventory at recess,” the department added.
It is unclear if any parents or students were disciplined in relation to the mix-up.
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Fulton County Schools did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The City of South Fulton, Georgia, is a rapidly growing municipality located about 20 minutes from Atlanta and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
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A federal prosecutor acknowledged Thursday that the decision to charge Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia two years after a routine traffic stop was “extraordinary” while defending the human smuggling case as legally justified.
Abrego Garcia, 31, has become a flash point in the national immigration debate since last March, when he was deported to El Salvador in violation of a 2019 court order in what Trump administration officials acknowledged was an “administrative error.”
The Supreme Court later ruled that the administration had to work to bring him back to the U.S.
After returning in June, Abrego Garcia was taken into federal custody in Nashville and detained on human smuggling charges stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee.
He has pleaded not guilty and is seeking dismissal of the charges on the grounds of vindictive and selective prosecution.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia and his wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura, left, are accompanied by Lydia Walther-Rodriguez, right, of We Are Casa, as they leave the federal courthouse, Thursday, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
A 2019 court order prevents Abrego Garcia from being deported to El Salvador after an immigration judge determined he faced danger from a gang that had threatened his family. He immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager and has been under the supervision of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Abrego Garcia was accused in court records of repeated domestic violence against his wife, who alleged multiple incidents of physical abuse in protective order filings. She later withdrew the protective order request and has defended her husband publicly.
The Department of Homeland Security has also said he was living in the U.S. illegally and has alleged ties to MS-13, disputing portrayals of him as simply a “Maryland man.” His attorneys have denied the gang allegations.
Tennessee Highway Patrol body camera footage from when Abrego Garcia was pulled over for speeding shows a calm exchange with officers. While officers discussed suspicions of smuggling among themselves — noting there were nine passengers in the vehicle — Abrego Garcia was issued only a warning.
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A woman holds a sign in support of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in front of the U.S. District Court in Nashville. (Getty Images )
First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Rob McGuire, who was acting U.S. attorney in April 2025, testified Thursday that his decision to charge Abrego Garcia was based on the evidence.
“I had previously prosecuted several human smuggling cases,” McGuire said, noting that after seeing video of the traffic stop, “I was immediately struck by how similar what was being depicted in the body cam was to those investigations.”
McGuire said Abrego Garcia’s vehicle belonged to someone with “a human smuggling background” and added that the route was “suspicious.”
“It was a large number of individuals traveling in one SUV with a driver who spoke for the group. No one had luggage… the car had Texas plates… the route was suspicious,” McGuire said.
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Kilmar Abrego Garcia arrived at the federal courthouse, Thursday, for a hearing on whether the charges against him should be dismissed. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
During cross-examination, McGuire acknowledged that the timing of the charges, coming so long after the traffic stop, was “extraordinary.”
He said he had not previously been aware of the traffic stop but reiterated that nobody in the Trump administration, including the White House or the Department of Justice, pressured him to seek the indictment.
When asked about whether he might have felt pressure to prosecute the case, McGuire said, “I’m not going to do something that is wrong to keep my job.”
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Kilmar Abrego Garcia, right, and his brother Cesar Abrego Garcia, center, arrive at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Baltimore, Aug. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
McGuire also said timing factored into charging Abrego Garcia since he was being held in El Salvador, and he did not want the indictment to go public before all senior officials were briefed on the matter.
“I knew from the get-go that this was going to be a controversial matter,” McGuire said.
U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw did not make a ruling Thursday and said he would wait to receive post-hearing briefs from attorneys by March 5 before determining whether another hearing is necessary.
Crenshaw previously found some evidence that the prosecution “may be vindictive” and that prior statements by Trump administration officials “raise cause for concern.”
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Thursday’s court appearance came after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from re-arresting Abrego Garcia into federal immigration custody on Feb. 17.
Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch, Jake Gibson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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