(CNN) โ California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law a bill that bans the use of red dye No. 40 and five other chemicals from use in foods served at public schools.
On September 28, the Golden State became the first in the country to pass a law forbidding the use of the ingredients found in some popular cereals, ice creams, drinks, candy, ice pops, cheese-flavored chips, jellies and more, according to the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit environmental health organization that cosponsored the law with Consumer Reports. The law will be enacted on December 31, 2027.
Known as the California School Food Safety Act and introduced by Democratic Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel in February, Assembly Bill 2316 prohibits a school district, county superintendent of schools or charter school with grades kindergarten through 12th from offering foods or beverages containing red dye No. 40, yellow dyes Nos. 5 and 6, blue dyes Nos. 1 and 2, and green dye No. 3. Some of these dyes are found in some, but not all, products under the Cheetos, Doritos, Skittles, M&Ms, Starburst, Gatorade, Mountain Dew, Capโn Crunch, Ruffles and Takis brands.
CNN has reached out to the owners of these brands for comment. Barcel USA, manufacturer of Takis, declined to comment.
California is home to the largest public school system in the nation, with more than 6.3 million students and 10,000 schools, Tony Thurmond, state superintendent of public instruction and bill cosponsor, said in a news briefing hosted by the EWG on August 6.
The bill stems from concerns these dyes would harm childrenโs ability to learn, as they have been linked to behavioral difficulties and decreased attention among children, according to a 2021 study by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.
โCalifornia is once again leading the nation when it comes to protecting our kids from dangerous chemicals,โ Gabriel said in a news release.
The law is โimportant to me as a parent, itโs important to me as somebody whoโs struggled with ADHD as a child, and itโs important to me as a parent of a child who is struggling with ADHD,โ Gabriel said in the August briefing. โWe know that the synthetic food dyes that are targeted by this bill can cause harm for all kids, but we know that there is a specially pronounced impact on a lot of our young people with ADHD and other challenges.โ
Gabriel and the EWG said that though โnew science is available,โ the US Food and Drug Administrationโs current regulations of the dyes in food is based on research thatโs 35 to 70 years old.
The FDAโs response
Enhancing food chemical safety is among the FDAโs top priorities, a spokesperson for the federal agency said via email.
โOver the past few years, there have been an increasing number of state bills to ban certain additives and set limits for certain contaminants,โ the spokesperson added. โAnd while states are well within their rights under our current regulatory system to do so, a strong national food safety system is not built state by state.โ
In August, when the bill was passed by the California Legislature, the agency said it had reviewed the research on the effects of color additives on childrenโs behavior, including the review cited by the bill. The FDA found that overall, โmost children have no adverse effects when consuming foods containing color additives, but some evidence suggests that certain children may be sensitive to them.โ
In addition to the FDAโs own evaluations, the agency also supports and participates in international risk assessments conducted under the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations/World Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives, an FDA spokesperson said in August.
โAll the colors listed have recently undergone assessments for safety in food by the JEFCA and were found to be safe for use in food under current use conditions,โ the FDA said.
The agency now says it โmust lead the way on food chemical safetyโ and is modernizing its approach to post-market chemical safety assessments in response to growing public demand for the FDA to do more to ensure the safety of chemicals in the US food supply.
The FDA held a public meeting in September on the development of an enhanced systematic process for the agencyโs post-market assessment of chemicals in food, and currently has a docket open for comment, according to the spokesperson.
โUnder the new Human Foods Program, by instituting a systematic approach for chemical reassessment, the FDA is making the types of changes to our oversight program that will support equal access to safe foods, a resilient food supply, and maintain consumer confidence.โ
Impacts of AB 2316
John Hewitt of the Consumer Brands Association, which represents more than 1,700 brands, said in a statement in August that โitโs unfortunate that scientifically proven, safe ingredients have been demonized for the purpose of advancing a political agenda.
โNo industry is more committed to food safety than the consumer packaged goods industry. Itโs why we have urged the FDA to aggressively acknowledge its responsibility as the nationโs food safety regulator,โ Hewitt, senior vice president of packaging and sustainability and state affairs at the association, said via email. โThe passage of this bill could cost schools and families money, limit choice and access, and create consumer confusion.โ
But Thurmond stressed the greater importance of โthe cost of our failure to act โฆ in a nation where our children already have some of the highest rates of illness, asthma, diabetes (and) heart disease,โ compared with other countries.
Gabriel echoed these sentiments, adding that the bill may ultimately save California money by reducing the use of resources necessary for helping children struggling in the classroom.
โI see this both through personal experience and also the work that I do as a lawmaker,โ he added. โItโs really expensive.โ
Newsomโs decision renders the United States food environment more in alignment with that of the European Union, where products including these dyes are required to have a warning label saying those products could harm young people, Gabriel added.
โThe point of this bill is to encourage manufacturers to make minor modifications to their recipes, so that they can serve the same foods that we all love, that our kids love, but without these dangerous chemicals that harm people,โ he added. โWe have incredible confidence that theyโre able to do that โฆ because they make the same products in so many countries around the world, just without the harmful chemicals.โ
The EWG has noted in the past that few foods available in California schools use the ingredients the bill bans.
However, Gabriel and other assemblymembers believe that given the size of Californiaโs economy, the law is a โmajor victory for the food safety movement not only here in the state of California, but also nationally,โ he said, also noting that more than 70 organizations support the bill.
After the state banned brominated vegetable oil, used mostly in some sodas, as part of its California Food Safety Act in October 2023, the US Food and Drug Administration revoked the regulation for its use nine months later.
And at least 10 other states have begun following Californiaโs lead, introducing legislation based on the act, Gabriel said.
Avoiding these chemicals in food
If youโre concerned about the potential impacts of these dyes on your childโs health, you can help them avoid them by checking the ingredient lists of any products you buy, experts said โ particularly packaged foods, which are typically ultra-processed and thus are more likely to include artificial dyes, according to the EWG.
You can also try alternatives without those ingredients โ foods that are USDA-certified organic, for example, canโt contain artificial food dye. Cut back on sodas, juices or sports drinks that might contain them, as well. Offering kids substitutes may be more effective than flat-out denial of something theyโre craving.
โEmphasize brightly colored produce,โ the EWG suggests. โThe best competition for splashy packages of ultra-processed foods is the rainbow of colors in fresh fruit and vegetables.โ
Actress Lesley-Ann Brandt has ongoing conversations with her 7-year-old son about which foods are more or less healthy to eat and why, she said in the briefing.
โWe talk to him as if heโs an adult, and he knows we donโt eat this because of this, but hereโs an alternative,โ Brandt said. โWe make some of our foods too, and itโs a way to discuss nutrition.โ
Brandt has witnessed the benefits of nutrition in her family of origin, too, she added. After growing up in two โvery differentโ food systems of South Africa and New Zealand, โI really noticed the difference coming to the States 14 years ago,โ she said.
โIโm also the oldest sister of a brother who had severe ADHD as a child, so I got to see firsthand the impact of nutrition and how it helped him,โ Brandt said. โOne of the first things my mother did to try and avoid heavily medicating him was to look at his nutrition and the processed sugars, ingredients, food dyes and synthetic chemicals that just (were) not going to serve him in school.
โAnd it was really the difference between a B student and a C student for him,โ she said. โThat impacted his confidence as well.โ
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