The MAHA or "Make America Healthy Again" movement has taken center stage across the U.S. It is successfully pressuring the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban food-dyes and trying to ban the use of food stamps (that is, SNAP benefits) for sugary sodas and junk food.

But what no one is talking about is how these proposed food-dye bans could cost American families thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars a year.

At least 20 other states are looking to follow the example of West Virginia, which just enacted a bill banning foods containing most artificial food-dyes and two preservatives. Starting this fall, products containing the dyes and preservatives will not be allowed to be served in schools, and shortly after that, products containing these dyes and preservative won’t be sold in the state at all.

I’m all for healthier food and the ethos of the MAHA movement, but I am afraid its good intentions are being hijacked by people who do not care about the average American.

There is no free lunch, so what we need to ask is, what are the costs of this ban? Its effects on food flavor is the least of our worries. To start, schools may end up paying significantly more for food — a cost that will be passed on to taxpayers. When the full ban comes into effect, the poorest among us — and frankly, also not the poorest — will have grocery bills that double, triple or even quadruple.

To be clear, this legislation means most cereal, potato chips, vegetable oil, bread, chewing gum,

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