The law does not go into effect until January 2027, to give companies time to reformulate their products. But Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports, says some companies have already started that process and could get their new versions on the market sooner.
“We’ve known for years that the toxic chemicals banned under California’s landmark new law pose serious risks to our health,” Ronholm says. “By keeping these dangerous chemicals out of food sold in the state, this groundbreaking law will protect Californians and encourage manufacturers to make food safer for everyone.”
Authored by state assemblymember Jesse Gabriel and co-sponsored by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and Consumer Reports, the law—known as the California Food Safety Act—is the first of its kind in the U.S. A similar bill has been introduced in the New York state legislature. These measures could set the stage for manufacturers to reformulate their products nationally so they don’t need to produce multiple products for different jurisdictions.
“This is a milestone in food safety, and California is once again leading the nation,” says Ken Cook, EWG president. “We applaud Gov. Newsom for signing this landmark bill and putting the health of Californians before the interests of industry. California is creating a healthier market for consumers.”
For now, these substances remain as additives in hundreds of common supermarket foods and drinks found throughout much of the U.S., according to a database maintained by EWG. Examples include sports drinks and citrus-flavored sodas (BVO), packaged breads (potassium bromate), corn tortillas and baked goods (propyl paraben), and many types of artificially flavored and colored candy (red dye 3).
Safety advocates have urged state lawmakers to ban these chemicals because, they say, the federal Food and Drug Administration does not adequately regulate food additives. “California has taken an important stand for food safety at a time when the FDA has been very slow to take action,” Ronholm says.
The four substances in question have been used in food for decades, and opponents of the California bill noted that most have been evaluated and approved for use by the FDA. But those approvals are now decades old, and new evidence has changed the scientific understanding of the additives, their health effects, and the ways that chemicals can affect human health over time.
The National Confectioners Association and the Consumer Brands Association, two industry groups that opposed the legislation, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
CR senior scientist Michael Hansen, PhD, says hundreds of peer-reviewed studies linking the banned additives to health risks have been published in recent decades, none of which were considered in the FDA’s previous reviews. The FDA’s European counterpart banned the four chemicals, among others, after conducting a comprehensive re-evaluation of the safety of all food additives.
The FDA banned Red Dye No. 3 for use in cosmetics more than 30 years ago because it was found to cause cancer in lab animals, but still allows its use in food.
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