Lawmaker wants 'California certified' seal for good food products

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — A Golden State lawmaker wants to create the California seal of approval for food.

Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, an Encino Democrat, unveiled his plan Wednesday to make a “California certified” seal that food manufacturers could place on their products. They’d have to meet certain criteria to have the seal, including that products are not ultra-processed food.

Additionally, grocery stores with annual revenue over $10 million and offering 25 items with the seal would have to display at least three of them in prominent areas.

The legislation is modeled on the U.S. Agriculture Department’s organic food label program.

“We don’t want to feed our kids poison,” Gabriel said of Assembly Bill 2244. “People are done. They want healthier options.”

A handful of organizations support the legislation, including the Environmental Working Group. Melanie Benesh, vice president of governmental affairs with the group, argued parents with children have little time to properly examine a food label while shopping after work. A California certification label would help them navigate grocery store aisles.

“And we know that consumers do want them,” she added.

Alyssa Moran, director of policy and research strategy at the University of Pennsylvania’s PEACH Lab, said ultra-processed foods increase health risks. Such foods are addictive, she said, as they’re produced and marketed with the design to keep people returning to them.

Moran echoed Benesh’s argument, saying that food labels make it easier for people to make good choices — a near impossibility in a marketplace crafted to addict consumers.

“We’ve learned this from alcohol, tobacco and prescription opioids,” she said.

Gabriel said Mexico displays a black octagon on food products that have high salt or fat. He wants a program that highlights good food, encouraging people to make the right choice.

If the bill is passed, the state Department of Public Health would begin certifying products by June 1, 2028. Its agents couldn’t certify any food that’s ultra-processed, an ultra-processed food of concern or restricted from schools.

Only products that receive state certification would be able to display the California seal.

The bill builds on some of Gabriel’s prior legislation, like the California Food Safety Act, which became law in 2023. It banned four dangerous additives from food sold in California. The following year, the California School Food Safety Act passed. It prohibits a number of harmful, synthetic food dyes in school meals.

In 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1264 into law. It 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.

Gabriel’s latest bill will first appear before the Assembly Health Committee. However, as it only reached print this week, that hearing likely won’t occur until late April at the earliest.

Two unrelated bills passed their first legislative hurdle at a Wednesday hearing of the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee.

Assembly Bill 1705 — written by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, an Orinda Democrat, and Diane Dixon, a Newport Beach Republican — would impose new rules on sexually explicit media online.

The bill would require websites that show such material to certify the people depicted consented to its distribution, a statement made under penalty of perjury. If violated, those depicted could file a civil suit against the site and the person who uploaded the material.

“Once sexually explicit material is uploaded online, it’s really impossible to remove it,” Dixon said.

The committee also passed Assembly Bill 1898. Written by Assemblymember Nick Schultz, the bill would require companies to inform their workers if they use artificial intelligence to monitor them or make an employment-related decision.

Opponents argued the bill had broad definitions that could lead to widespread litigation and release confidential company information to the public.

Schultz, a Burbank Democrat, said his bill had a path to passage.

“If it doesn’t pass out of committee today, you’re silencing the conversation,” he said.