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.

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.

PEPSICO TO REMOVE ARTIFICIAL INGREDIENTS FROM POPULAR FOOD ITEMS BY END OF 2025

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.

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.

“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.”

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.

A Florida man working as a Salvation Army bell ringer for the holidays was arrested Christmas week after he allegedly attempted to “impale” the manager of a grocery store with his donation kettle tripod, according to officials. 

Steven Pavlik, 63, was arrested at his home this week and charged with aggravated assault and resisting arrest after he fled after allegedly drunkenly attacking the manager of a Publix in Stuart, Florida. 

Pavlik had been stationed as a bell ringer outside the store.

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Sixty-three-year-old “Steven Pavlik tried his hand at some part-time Christmas charity work — however, drunk ringing, belligerent tidings and assault took him from bell duty to booking blotter after a full-blown charity tirade,” the Martin County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Christmas Eve Facebook post. 

The store manager confronted Pavlik after he allegedly got drunk on duty and began “aggressively” harassing passersby, causing a “major disturbance” outside the store, according to the sheriff’s office. 

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Pavlik then allegedly attacked the store manager with his donation kettle tripod.

“When the Publix manager came outside to speak to Pavlik, he became violent and attempted to impale the manager with the donation kettle tripod,” the sheriff’s office wrote.

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The manager wasn’t injured during the attack, the sheriff’s office said. 

Pavlik fled, but deputies later located him at his home, where he was taken into custody.

Publix and the Salvation Army did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

South Carolina pastor John Paul Miller has been charged in federal court with allegedly cyberstalking his estranged wife, 30-year-old Mica Miller, for more than a year before her death, authorities said.

She was found dead on April 27, 2024, at Lumber River State Park in Robeson County, North Carolina. Her death was ruled a suicide.

A federal grand jury in Columbia indicted John-Paul Miller, 46, of Myrtle Beach, on one count of cyberstalking and one count of making false statements to federal investigators, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina on Dec. 18.

SC PASTOR’S WIFE MICA MILLER TOLD POLICE SHE WAS BEING TRACKED BEFORE HER SUICIDE: DOCS

The indictment alleges that beginning in November 2022 and continuing until Mica’s death, Miller engaged in a pattern of harassment that included sending repeated unwanted communications, contacting her more than 50 times in a single day, interfering with her finances and daily activities, and damaging her car tires.

Prosecutors say Miller also placed tracking devices on her car and posted a nude photograph of her online without her consent.

Miller’s alleged cyberstalking put his wife in “reasonable fear of death and serious bodily injury,” according to the federal indictment, which added that his conduct “would be reasonably expected to cause [Mica Miller] substantial emotional distress.”

READ THE INDICTMENT — APP USERS, CLICK HERE

MICA MILLER 911 CALL REVEALS FINAL MOMENTS BEFORE HER DEATH AS NC AUTHORITIES CHALLENGE ‘CONSPIRACY THEORIES’

Federal authorities say that Miller also lied to investigators when he was questioned about damaging Mica’s tires. Investigators later found that Miller purchased a tire-deflation device online and sent messages to others referencing her vehicle, according to the indictment.

Miller could face a maximum sentence of five years in prison on the cyberstalking charge and two years for making false statements, along with fines of up to $250,000. He is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 12, 2026, in federal court in Florence, South Carolina. Court records did not immediately list an attorney for Miller.

SOUTH CAROLINA WOMAN MICA MILLER’S HUSBAND SAYS HE TRIED TO ‘RAISE HER FROM THE DEAD’ DURING EULOGY

In a statement released Thursday, Robeson County Sheriff Burnis Wilkins said his office initiated the request for federal involvement shortly after Mica’s death, after investigators uncovered information that, while not directly related to the cause of death, warranted further review.

Deputies responded to Lumber River State Park on April 27, 2024, after Mica called 911 expressing concern that she might harm herself, Wilkins said.

She was found dead in the water with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, and the gun was located nearby. The North Carolina Medical Examiner’s Office later ruled the death a suicide.

Wilkins said his office contacted the U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Carolina on May 6, 2024, requesting a federal investigation into alleged conduct that occurred outside North Carolina’s jurisdiction. Detectives shared all evidence with the FBI and met with Miller’s family the following day to explain the findings and the referral.

“Unfortunately, during the course of this investigation, rumors, speculation, and conspiracy theories spread rapidly,” Wilkins said in a statement posted on his office’s Facebook page, along with photos of both John-Paul and Mica Miller. “The Robeson County Sheriff’s Office made decisions based solely on facts, evidence, and verified information obtained through a very detailed and thorough investigation.”

The sheriff said that while the federal charges do not alter the official determination of Mica’s death, they bring attention to the seriousness of domestic abuse, including nonphysical forms of abuse.

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“This case underscores the seriousness of domestic violence abuse and related offenses and serves as a reminder that such behavior has no place in our society,” Wilkins said.

Miller was a pastor at Solid Rock Church in Myrtle Beach at the time of his wife’s death. The pair had separated, and Mica filed for divorce two days before she died, according to FOX 8 Greensboro.