Illinois Is Working To Ban Skittles And Mountain Dew–Here’s Why

"Breakfast of Champions" may be the slogan for Wheaties cereal, but I used to work with a guy who would knock back a bag of Skittles and two bottles of Mountain Dew each and every morning before doing one single thing at work.

He called that the breakfast of champions, and claimed that Skittles and Mountain Dew supplied him with everything he needed to get out there and take on the day.

Well, if lawmakers in Springfield get their way, my former coworker and many other people are going to have to find a new way to jump-start themselves every morning because both of those products may be banned in Illinois.

The Illinois Senate Has Just Passed A Bill That Would Ban Multiple Food Additives That Are Found In Cereals, Pop, Candy, Crackers, Snack Cakes, And A Myriad Of Other Things

Senate Bill 2637 is now headed to the Illinois House. If it passes there, it's on to the governor's desk for signature, before changing the landscape of what we buy and eat here in Illinois.

Here's some of the language of Senate Bill 2637: "a person or entity shall not manufacture, sell, deliver, distribute, hold, or offer for sale a food product for human consumption that contains brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben, or red dye 3."

You might be asking yourself just how many food products contain all of those hard to pronounce things. The simple answer is a lot.

Illinois Senate Bill 2637 Contains Rules And Regulations For Manufacturers To Update Their Recipes With "Safer Alternatives" By January Of 2028, And Penalties If They Don't

Illinois SB 2637 also includes a demand for studies of two chemicals, BHA and BHT, which are often found in food products like snacks, gum, and other common food items.

So, what's the problem with things like brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben, red dye 3, and BHA/BHT?

Brominated Vegetable Oil: Is used to stabilize fruit flavor in beverages. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), brominated vegetable oil can be found in some sodas and sports drinks (like Mountain Dew). It's banned in Europe because brominated vegetable oil is a flame-retardant and can cause several heath issues. Foods that contain brominated vegetable oil: soft drinks, energy drinks, baked goods, pasta

Potassium Bromate: Is an oxidizer used to help bread rise. It has been linked to kidney and thyroid cancers in laboratory rats. It's banned in Europe, Canada, and China. Foods that contain potassium bromate: crackers, donuts, pastries, pizza crust, pretzels, tortillas, and waffle cones.

Propylparaben: It's used as an antimicrobial preservative in food, and there have been concerns about how it may affect your reproductive system and your endocrine system. Foods that contain propylparaben: cookies, muffins, trail mix, cereals, frozen desserts.

Red Dye #3: California's Environmental Protection Agency (CA-EPA) claim that there's ample evidence that Red Dye #3 has a bad effect on children's behavior and mental health. Foods that contain Red Dye #3: candy, drinks, baked goods, yogurt, baby food, toaster pastries, frozen desserts.

California recently passed a similar bill into law last October.