Beginning this school year (2026-2027), any Arizona school that participates in federally funded meal programs must abide by the guidelines established in House Bill 2164: Arizona Healthy Schools Act. All schools in Baboquivari Unified School District are impacted by this bill.
What does the law say?
The Arizona Healthy Schools Act prohibits schools from serving, selling, or allowing a third party to sell ultra-processed food on the school campus during the regular school day.
- Defining Ultra-Processed Foods
- The Arizona Healthy Schools Act defines ultra-processed foods as those with the following eleven (11) ingredients:
- potassium bromate;
- propylparaben
- titanium dioxide
- brominated vegetable oil;
- yellow dye 5;
- yellow dye 6;
- blue dye 1;
- blue dye 2;
- green dye 3;
- red dye 3; or
- red dye 40.
- The Arizona Healthy Schools Act defines ultra-processed foods as those with the following eleven (11) ingredients:
- Defining the School Day
- A school day, for the applicability of this law, is defined as midnight before to 30 minutes after the end of the instructional day.
Schools must adhere to serving foods that do not contain the 11 specified food additives in lunches, vending machines, snack bars, and school stores during the regular school day.
- Please note, this ruling does not apply to food brought from home by students.
What does this mean for BUSD?
The Arizona Healthy Schools Act is meant to limit students’ access to these food additives during the school day.
Our Food Services Department will be working to ensure that no food items that contain any of the 11 ingredients listed above are in any food item offered by our school cafeterias, either as a part of our Free and Reduced Lunch Program or any meals or snacks available for sale.
Our administration will also be working to ensure that teachers and staff are not providing any snacks to students that include the above ingredients.
What does this mean for BUSD families and community?
While we welcome in school celebrations for a variety of events, adhering to the Arizona Healthy Schools Act means that we must limit what foods are allowed to be shared and/or sold in our schools.
The following items are some examples of items that are not allowed:
- Birthday cakes
- Cupcakes with colored frosting
- Donuts with colorful icing
- Candy
- Cookies with artificial food dyes
- Sodas
- Drinks containing artificial colors
- Lollipops
- Candy bars
If you bring any of these items or the packaged foods indicate the 11 prohibited additives are in the ingredients, the food will not be allowed into the classroom.
If your child comes to school with snacks to share, they will be confiscated and a parent/guardian will need to pick up them up.
To ensure you student has a seamless celebration, opt for items such as:
- Fresh fruit cups
- Orange slices
- Watermelon
- Apples
- Bananas
- Veggie trays
- Cheese sticks
- Plain popcorn (no artificial dyes)
- Whole grain crackers
- Bottled water
- Milk
- Or, choose a non-food item
The law does not prohibit what food items you provide for your child to consume during school hours.
You are free to pack your child’s lunch and snacks as you wish, however, please let your child know that these items cannot be shared with other students.
Here are some links with more information:
