SACRAMENTO, CALIF. — The California School Food Safety Act is awaiting a signature or a veto from Governor Gavin Newsom by Sept. 30 after it unanimously passed the state legislature on Aug. 29.
The bill, sponsored by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel of Encino, would prohibit school districts, county superintendents of schools or charter schools from serving children in kindergarten through 12th grade any foods or beverages containing Blue 1 and 2, Green 3, Red 40 and Yellow 5 and 6.
“As a lawmaker, a parent, and someone who struggled with ADHD, I find it unacceptable that we allow schools to serve foods with additives that are linked to hyperactivity and neurobehavioral harms,” Gabriel said following the Act’s passage. “This bill will empower schools to better protect the health and well-being of our kids and encourage manufacturers to stop using these harmful additives.”
The Act would remove from public schools such products as Hot Cheetos, Doritos, M&M’s, sports drinks, some juices and sodas, Twinkies and sugary breakfast cereals such as Froot Loops and Cap’n Crunch, according to Sacramento-based CapRadio.
Gabriel also sponsored the California Food Safety Act, which Newsom signed into law on Oct. 7, 2023. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2027, it prohibits the manufacture, sale and distribution of foods for human consumption in the state containing brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben or Red 3. Other states looking to do the same include Illinois, Missouri, New York and Washington.
Gabriel said the School Food Safety Act likely would have impacts beyond California because the state’s food safety laws have caused broader changes in the food industry since “companies often opt to reformulate products nationwide rather than create state-specific versions.”
He said there are readily available substitutes for the six synthetic food dyes addressed in the Act, and the same food products are available in Europe without them. The European Union has not banned synthetic food dyes for food use — with the exception of Red 3 in 1994, which is still allowed in some cherry products — but does require them to be labeled on packaging.
Opponents of the School Food Safety Act call it a dangerous precedent that is not science-based. Critics also express concerns that food businesses will have to shift resources away from other priorities in order to comply with a conflicting patchwork of regulations on the state and federal levels.
In a recent statement to CNN, John Hewitt, senior vice president, packaging and sustainability and state affairs, Consumer Brands Association, said passage of the School Food Safety Act “could cost schools and families money, limit choice and access and create consumer confusion.”
“No industry is more committed to food safety than the consumer packaged goods industry,” he said. “It’s why we have urged the FDA to aggressively acknowledge its responsibility as the nation’s food safety regulator.”
The FDA’s view is that color additives in food are safe when used properly, as Linda Katz, MD, MPH, director, Office of Cosmetics and Colors, FDA, said in a consumer update on the agency’s website.
“There is no such thing as absolute safety of any substance,” she added. “In the case of a new color additive, the FDA determines if there is ‘a reasonable certainty of no harm’ under the color additive’s proposed conditions of use.”
According to the consumer update, the FDA “has reviewed and will continue to examine the effects of color additives on children’s behavior. The totality of scientific evidence shows that most children have no adverse effects when consuming foods containing color additives, but some evidence suggests that certain children may be sensitive to them.”
The FDA is holding a public meeting on Sept. 25 virtually and in Silver Spring, Md., to share an enhanced systematic process for post-market assessment of chemicals in food, including color additives, and hear stakeholder perspectives. The agency said the approach “includes a transparent process for identifying and prioritizing food chemicals currently in the market for safety reviews."