Joe Hernandez
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A new proposal is trying to stop public schools across California from serving foods that contain certain substances, including some artificial dyes commonly found in the most popular snacks.(iStock/ BWFolsom)
Some of the food items that could disappear from school cafeterias include Doritos, M&Ms, sports drinks and sugary breakfast cereals such as Froot Loops and Cap’n Crunch, CapRadio reported.
Do food dyes really harm kids?
The bill would prohibit schools from serving foods containing six food dyes — blue 1, blue 2, green 3, red 40, yellow 5 and yellow 6 — as well as titanium dioxide.
Gabriel points to a 2021 report from the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, which found that the consumption of food dyes can cause or worsen hyperactivity and other behavioral problems in children.
Though the Food and Drug Administration approves additives, including dyes, used in food and drinks in the U.S., critics have increasingly pushed on the agency to reevaluate its decisions to permit certain substances that may now be understood to be harmful.
Some parents worried about the health effects of artificial dyes have appealed to snack makers directly, and companies have taken action. Kraft Foods announced in 2013 that it was removing artificial food dyes from its mac and cheese and replacing them with spices such as paprika, annatto and turmeric.
The additive titanium dioxide, which is also targeted in the California bill, produces a “smooth finish” and shine in food and has been in use for more than half a century, according to the Environmental Working Group.
In 2022 it was banned by the European Commission, which said it could not rule out that titanium dioxide may pose a health risk and present “genotoxicity” concerns, which means it could cause DNA or chromosomal damage.
Still, some food producers argue that the decision to pull additives from the shelf should be up to regulators at the FDA — not lawmakers.
“These activists are dismantling our national food safety system state by state in an emotionally-driven campaign that lacks scientific backing,” Christopher Gindlesperger, a spokesperson for the National Confectioners Association, said in a statement.
“The only institution in America that can stop this sensationalistic agenda that is not based on facts and science is the FDA,” he said.
What’s next for this proposal in California?
Gabriel, the legislator, said he expected the bill to be heard in the Assembly Education Committee in the coming weeks.
A spokesperson for the Association of California School Administrators told the Los Angeles Times that few schools currently sell snacks that would be subject to the ban, and the biggest impact would be on student stores raising money for student funds.
