California rids schools of ultra-processed foods — but must define them first

LOS ANGELES (CN) — A push to make California school meals healthier got put on the menu Wednesday.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1264, which will remove ultra-processed foods from schools by July 1, 2035. The bill will lead the state to define “ultra-processed foods,” which supporters have said is a first for the nation.

“It’s a movement that should unite all of us regardless of political stripe,” Newsom said Wednesday at Belvedere Middle School in Los Angeles moments before signing the bill.

Supporters of the measure say ultra-processed foods can have harmful additives to enhance taste and appearance, with some engineered to activate the brain’s reward center and lead to food addiction. Research has linked such foods to cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

The bill by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, an Encino Democrat, creates a timeline to prohibit the sale of the foods in schools.

The first deadline is July 1, 2026, when the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment must create regulations to define harmful ultra-processed foods. The office will follow that with regulations to create a petitioning process for foods or ingredients that should be exempted from the ultra-processed food label by 2028.

By 2032, vendors are prohibited from offering foods with the ultra-processed food designation to schools.

Finally, on July 1, 2035, schools will face the full implementation of the law, when local educational agencies will be restricted from selling the foods and beverages.

Coauthors of the bill include Assemblymember James Gallagher, a Yuba City Republican and minority leader emeritus, and Assemblymember Alex Lee, a San Jose Democrat and chair of the Progressive Caucus.

“By signing this bill, Governor Newsom follows the lead of the Trump administration and RFK Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again strategy, tackling childhood chronic diseases head-on,” Gallagher said in a statement to Courthouse News. “I’m proud to join this fight. AB 1264 is a practical step to cut kids’ exposure to ultra-processed foods and ensure our school lunches are healthy.”

Gabriel took a jab at the Make America Healthy Again movement, saying California leads on the issue of school nutrition with action.

“Here in California we are actually doing the work to protect our kids’ health,” he added.

Gabriel’s bill is the third over the past few years focused on food health.

In 2023, his California Food Safety Act became law. It banned four dangerous additives from food sold in the Golden State. The following year, the California School Food Safety Act passed. It prohibits a number of harmful, synthetic food dyes in school meals.

Gabriel’s office said his legislation has led to over 20 states introducing similar bills.

Scott Faber, with the Environmental Working Group, emphasized that food should make kids healthy, not sick.

“It’s California that’s making America healthier,” he added.

Newsom signed a handful of bills on Wednesday, including one that affects social media companies.

Assembly Bill 656 — written by Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo, a Santa Clarita Democrat — will require those companies to provide a button within their settings that lets people delete their account. The button must be available on any format someone uses to access the social media platform.

Additionally, the bill requires platforms to delete all personal information of any user who deletes their account, and prohibits them from interfering with someone seeking that deletion.

Newsom’s office called it a straightforward and clear method of deleting social media accounts and protecting personal data.

The governor also signed Assembly Bill 566, which will give internet users a simpler method to protect their privacy. The bill — written by Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, a Long Beach Democrat — requires internet browsers to have a setting enabling people to opt out of third-party sales of their data. Users would only need to opt out once instead of at each website.