By Matthew Holloway |

A bill sponsored by Arizona State Representative Leo Biasiucci (R-LD30) HB 2164 to ban several food dyes and toxic chemicals from foods served in Arizona schools passed the Arizona Senate unanimously on Tuesday. At the time, actor-turned-conservative activist Rob Schneider and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. were visiting the Capitol as part of the ‘Make America Healthy Again’ tour.

Both Kennedy and Schneider joined Biasiucci at the Capitol in Phoenix with the Representative posting to X, “It was honor to have @SecKennedy visit the Arizona Legislature today as my bill to ban toxic food dyes from schools passed 28-0 in the Senate. I look forward to doing whatever I can to help him Make America Healthy Again!”

If signed into law, the bill would ban foods on school campuses which are deemed to be harmful. When the bill was announced in February, Biasiucci stood beside Senate Majority Leader Janae Shamp (R-LD29) and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne and explained the ban to include foods found to contain ingredients that scientific studies have found to be harmful to students health, including potassium bromate, propylparaben, titanium dioxide, brominated vegetable oil, yellow dyes 5 and 6, blue dyes 1 and 2, red dyes 3 and 40, and green dye 3.

“Our kids deserve better than artificial dyes and cheap fillers in their lunches. If we’re providing meals at school, they should be real, nutritious food—not the kind of processed junk that’s banned in other countries. This bill puts the health of Arizona’s children first, plain and simple,” Biasiucci said at the time.

Posting to X after the vote Schneider wrote, “Thank YOU to ALL the legislators in Arizona on BOTH sides of the aisle for putting the HEALTH of CHILDREN before partisan politics…”

“I would like to first thank the Democrats in the state legislature here for joining Republicans unanimously for doing what’s best for our children,” said Biasiucci. “This is not partisan, this is people, these are our children, these are the most important and precious members of our society, this is our future, this is everything. It really is a testament to this great state that we can get together and do something that is 100% positive for everyone in this state. A lot of kids this will be their only meal of the day… let’s get them the best things.”

During the proceedings, Kennedy told reporters, “It’s happening at the grassroots. People are saying we are not going to take it anymore. We are not going to be mass poisoned.”

Rep. Biasiucci added, “A lot of times you have to sacrifice your language, you have to make edits, make amendments to get it across the finish line. I wanted to get the bill across the finish line, because sometimes you need to have that impact, you need to make that change happen before the conversation continues in the future.”

Kennedy agreed saying, “Believe me, I would like to solve the entire processed food problem, but we’re not going to do that overnight. We’re going to do it in the next four years.”

Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.