Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, M&Ms and other items made with certain synthetic food dyes will be expelled from California public schools, charter schools and state special schools in a bill signed into law Monday by Governor Gavin Newsom.
Assembly Bill 2316, which will take effect from December 31, 2027, stops snack foods containing dyes known as blue 1, blue 2, green 3, red 40, yellow 5 and yellow 6. All of them are common industry. staples that can give food unnaturally vibrant colors in an effort to make people more attractive.
“Our health is inseparable from the food we eat,” Newsom said in a statement. “Today, we refuse to accept the status quo, and so that everyone, including school children, can access nutritious and delicious food without harmful and often addictive additives.”
The chemical has been linked to developmental and behavioral harm in children, according to the bill’s authors, who cited a 2021 report from the California Environmental Protection Agency. He hopes the new law could have a ripple effect beyond the Golden State.
“California is once again leading the nation when it comes to protecting our children from harmful chemicals that can damage their bodies and interfere with their ability to learn,” said Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino), who introduced the legislation.
The new law “sends a strong message to manufacturers to stop using this dangerous additive,” he said in a statement.
Flamin’ Hot Cheetos contain three of the six newly banned chemicals: red 40, yellow 5 and yellow 6. The ingredient list for M&Ms includes those three dyes as well as blue 1 and blue 2.
Other food items that may disappear from school cafeterias and vending machines as a result of this law include Cheetos, Doritos, sports drinks and sugary breakfast cereals such as Froot Loops and Cap’n Crunch.
For Gabriel, the bill was personal. He told The Times in March that he had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as a child. Her son also has a neurodevelopmental disorder.
Last year, Newsom signed the first ban on food additives found in popular cereals, candy, sodas and beverages, including brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben and red dye No. . .
California lawmakers hope the ban will force manufacturers to formulate their prescriptions.
AB 2316 faces opposition from the American Beverage Assn., the California Chamber of Commerce and the National Confectioners Assn.
The group says food additives should be regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, not evaluated on a state-by-state basis.
But how or when the FDA will act on the issue, said Melanie Benesh, vice president of government affairs at the Environmental Working Group, which is sponsoring the law.
“The FDA certainly needs to act on these dyes as well, but there’s no reason to wait until the children of California are safe,” Benesh said after the bill passed the Legislature.
“There are many alternatives to these chemicals,” Benesh said. “I think the industry is looking for ways to formulate and market food without using chemicals that could harm children.”
In addition to the ban on food dyes, Newsom also signed a bill that aims to standardize information about expiration dates on food products. AB 660 is designed to provide consumers with clearer and more consistent information about food freshness in hopes of reducing food waste.
“Having to wonder if our food is still good is a problem that we all have been struggling with,” the bill’s author, Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks), said in a statement. Enactment of this bill is a “monumental step to keep money in consumers’ pockets while helping the environment and the planet.”
Erica Parker, a policy associate with Californians Against Waste, which supports the bill, said the legislation would eliminate consumer confusion when checking products that have the words “sold,” “expired” or “best before.” printed on the packaging.
The result of the confusion “is an astonishing amount of food waste. Californians throw away 6 million tons of food waste every year – and confusion about the date label is the main cause,” he said in a statement when the bill was sent to Newsom’s desk.
