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#ultra

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California bill aims to phase out harmful ultra-processed foods in schools

thenewlede.org/2025/03/califor

-Processed

The New Lede · California bill aims to phase out harmful ultra-processed school foodsBy Shannon Kelleher As states across the country move to ban food dyes, California lawmakers on March 19 introduced the first bill in the nation that would phase out certain ultra-processed foods from school meals. If signed into law, Assembly Bill 1264 would establish the first statutory definition of what qualifies as an ultra-processed food and would direct state scientists to work with university experts to identify particularly harmful products, which would then be removed from school cafeterias by 2032. “We have not done enough to protect from ultra-processed foods and beverages that have far more in common with a cigarette than they do a fruit or vegetable,” Ashley Gearhardt, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan and director of the school’s Food Addiction Science & Treatment Lab, said on a March 19 press call. AB 1264 is a “courageous step forward” towards treating ultra-processed foods like the serious health threats they are, said Gearhardt. To identify which ultra-processed foods should be eliminated from school offerings, scientists will consider whether a product includes additives that are banned elsewhere, whether it has been linked to health harms, whether it has been show to contribute to food addiction, and whether it contains excessive fat, sugar or salt, California Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, one of the lawmakers who introduced the bill, said on the call. The scientists will be required to publish a first report outlining this subcategory of especially harmful ultra-processed foods by July 1, 2026, said Gabriel, and will be required to update the list every two years as research on these foods evolves. The bill was embraced by both Democrat and Republican lawmakers, added Gabriel. “Protecting our kids from harm is, and always should be, a bipartisan issue,” he said
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