Hot Cheetos ban in California schools? Snacks with artificial dyes targeted in new bill
LOS ANGELES - The days of kids munching on Flamin' Hot Cheetos and Takis at school may be numbered.
This comes after state lawmakers introduced a bill that would ban certain processed junk foods in public schools due to "detrimental health effects."
"The science is complicated but the purpose of the bill is not," said the bill's author, Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, at a press conference Tuesday.
"This is about protecting our students from chemicals that have been proven to harm children and interfere with their ability to learn."
Assembly Bill 2316 is described by Gabriel as "first-in-the-nation legislation" that would ban public schools from serving foods containing synthetic food dyes Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2, and Green 3.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: California lawmaker introduces bill to prohibit 6 artificial food additives in school cafeterias
Those additives can be found in many popular snacks, including Hot Cheetos, Takis, Doritos, M&Ms, Twinkies, and Gatorade.
Additionally, the ban would apply to titanium dioxide, which is often used in cosmetics, plastics, sunscreens, and paint.
The coloring agent has already been banned in Europe since 2022.
Gabriel pointed to a 2021 study by the California Environmental Protection Agency, which found that "consumption of synthetic food dyes can result in hyperactivity and other neurobehavioral problems in some children."
Legislation aims to ban harmful chemicals in California school food
A first-in-the-nation legislation was introduced today in California that would prohibit public schools from serving certain cereals, condiments, and other foods that contain additives linked to hyperactivity, behavioral issues, and health harms including cancer. Assembly Bill 2316 would prohibit schools from serving food containing six synthetic food dyes. The bill would also prohibit titanium dioxide... a coloring agent often used in sunscreens, cosmetics, and plastics. Assembly member Jesse Gabriel, who introduced the legislation, spoke about it in depth on FOX 11.
His office also claimed that addictions have links to cancer and harm to the immune system.
The proposed law would still allow schools to sell foods containing the synthetic dyes, but only after 30 minutes past the end of the school day or events that take place off-campus.
Earlier this year, Gabriel introduced AB 418, legislation that would ban the sale, manufacture, and distribution of products containing five specific and widely used food additives across the Golden State: red dye 3, potassium bromate, propylparaben, titanium dioxide, and brominated vegetable oil.
Gabriel said the legislation was intended to make the food in schools "safe" and that they won't "harm them or interfere with their ability to learn."