California has become the first state to prohibit school cafeterias from serving foods that contain six artificial dyes tied to health and behavioral problems.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, signed Assembly Bill 2316 into law on Saturday. Known as the California School Food Safety Act, it outlaws Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2 and Green 3 from the meals, drinks and snacks served at public schools statewide.
Democratic Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel introduced the legislation in March, three years after a state report linked consuming synthetic food dyes to hyperactivity and neurobehavioral problems in certain children. Other studies have also shown some of the dyes to be carcinogenic.
While the Food and Drug Administration hasn’t established a causal relationship between behavioral problems and synthetic dyes in children who haven’t been diagnosed with conditions such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, the comprehensive 2021 review by the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment found an association even in some children without ADHD diagnoses.
“Overall, our review of human studies suggests that synthetic food dyes are associated with adverse neurobehavioral effects, such as inattentiveness, hyperactivity and restlessness in sensitive children,” the authors wrote. “The evidence supports a relationship between food dye exposure and adverse behavioral outcomes in children, both with and without pre-existing behavioral disorders.”
Gabriel said Monday that he was “elated” that Newsom signed the bill.
“We’re feeling really proud of the fact that we are changing the national conversation around food safety,” he said in a phone interview. “It is very clear that these are chemicals that can harm kids and interfere with their ability to learn.”
The law doesn’t ban any foods, he said. Rather, it requires manufacturers to remove the artificial dyes in their recipes and replace them with natural alternatives, such as carrot or beet juice — which many companies already do for consumers in the European Union and other places that prohibit synthetic colors in food and drinks.
The law will go into effect on Dec. 31, 2027, which Gabriel said will give manufacturers plenty of time to reformulate their recipes. It comes as the number of ADHD diagnoses nationwide has trended upward in recent years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A decadeslong debate
Consumer advocacy organizations have long argued that FDA approval of artificial dyes is based on outdated, decades-old research. They also point to research indicating that children have lower tolerance levels to chemical exposure than adults, making their developing bodies more vulnerable to any harmful effects from synthetic colorants.
“What made this type of law necessary is that FDA hasn’t been able or willing to do anything about these issues for several decades,” Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports, said of the California legislation. “There’s so much more data and information on the health effects now than there’s ever been.”
The FDA told NBC News after this story published that food safety is a top priority. Last week, the agency held a public meeting to discuss food chemicals, including color additives, and it is now soliciting comments from the public as it works to develop an enhanced review process for post-market assessment of chemicals in food.
"Over the past few years, there have been an increasing number of state bills to ban certain additives and set limits for certain contaminants. And 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," an FDA spokesperson said in an email. "The FDA must lead the way on food chemical safety and under 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."
The International Food Additives Council, a trade organization, said in a statement that state-specific legislation such as the California School Food Safety Act undermines the FDA.
“This legislation is not only misguided, but it also increases costs and complexity, ultimately affecting the population that needs nutrition the most while disrupting national food regulations and causing consumer confusion,” the group said. “This approach fosters unnecessary fear and mistrust in the federal system.”
The school foods law comes a year after the passage of the California Food Safety Act, another first-of-its-kind legislation authored by Gabriel. That law banned four other potentially harmful food additives from products sold statewide, including brominated vegetable oil, which is often used as a stabilizer in citrus-flavored beverages.
The United Kingdom and other places around the world have banned brominated vegetable oil for decades because of concerns over its potential toxicity. This summer, the FDA revoked authorization for its use in food and drinks nationwide after it announced it had concluded that brominated vegetable oil wasn’t safe.
Gabriel said he hopes the new California law will prompt more change on the federal level.
“We think we are putting the right kind of pressure on the federal government to step up and do the right thing and really bring the United States into line with so many other countries around the world,” he said.
