In 2025, Texas and Louisiana enacted daunting new laws requiring the food industry to notify consumers of the presence of a long list of food and color additives. Louisiana’s Senate Bill 14 (SB 14), passed in 2025, prohibits more than a dozen food and color additives in school meals and requires manufacturers to label foods with a disclaimer if certain additives are present. Nearly a year later, Louisiana has enacted Senate Bill 57 (SB 57) to clarify the requirements of SB 14.
What Is the Current Compliance Date for the Food Label Disclosure Requirement?
SB 57 delays the effective date of the new disclosure requirement applicable to food labels from Jan. 1, 2028 to Dec. 31, 2028, affording industry one additional year to comply, to push the Louisiana legislature for additional changes and clarifications prior to implementation, or to seek other relief. SB 57 does not change the compliance timeline for restaurants in Louisiana to declare the use of seed oils on menus or in another visible location, with the compliance date for this requirement remaining Jan. 1, 2028.1
What Else Has Louisiana Clarified with SB 57?
Under § 661, adopted as part of SB 14, Louisiana will require a quick response (QR) code, along with a statement adjacent to the code informing consumers that additional ingredient information can be accessed by scanning the QR code, to be placed on the label of a food containing any listed ingredient.2
SB 57 amends § 661 to clarify that the disclaimer provisions of SB 14 “shall only apply if the United States Food and Drug Administration requires the ingredient to be named on a food label and the ingredient is used” in food products.3 This clarification is significant for industry since FDA regulations do not require that incidental additives, including processing aids, be declared as ingredients in the ingredient statement.4 Because many of the listed additives are often used as processing aids or other incidental additives without being declared as ingredients, this clarification will level the playing field among stakeholders responsible for compliance and provides predictability regarding the application of the law.
SB 57 also amends § 661 to remove acesulfame potassium, an artificial sweetener, from the list of additives that trigger the disclosure requirement. Other artificial sweeteners, such as sucralose and aspartame, remain listed, and their inclusion in packaged foods and beverages is likely to necessitate the QR code, accompanying label disclosures and required website disclosures.5
1 Act No. 735, 2026 Louisiana Regular Session.
3 Act No. 735, 2026 Louisiana Regular Session.
5 La. R.S. §40.661(4) and (39).
