California governor signs bill that bans 6 food dyes from public school food

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill that bans six food dyes from food served in the state’s public schools--the first state to take such a step. 

Consumer Reports says the California School Food Safety Act bans Red Dye No. 40, Yellow Dye No. 5, Yellow Dye No. 6, Blue Dye No. 1, Blue Dye No. 2, and Green Dye No. 3. The chemicals have been linked to hyperactivity and neurobehavioral problems in some children.

“As a lawmaker, a parent, and someone who struggled with ADHD, I find it unacceptable that we allow schools to serve foods with additives that are linked to cancer, hyperactivity, and neurobehavioral harms,” says Jesse Gabriel, the California state assemblyman who authored the bill. 

The law, which was co-sponsored by Consumer Reports and the Environmental Working Group, goes into effect on Dec. 31, 2027.

It follows the California Food Safety Act, a measure enacted last year in California that banned four food additives in all food sold in the state, including Red Dye No. 3, brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, and propyl paraben.

The California School Food Safety Act could prompt other states to consider similar bans, says Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports. Pennsylvania is already considering one. 

But John Hewitt, senior vice president for state affairs at the Consumer Brands Association, a trade group, says: “The passage of this bill could cost schools and families money, limit choice and access, and create consumer confusion. The approach taken by California politicians ignores our science- and risk-based process and is not the precedent we should be setting when it comes to feeding our families.”

Ronholm says that the Food and Drug Administration hasn’t reviewed the safety of these six dyes for decades. He hopes that what California has done will spur the federal government to act.

Ronholm says that some of the dyes no longer allowed in California school foods have been banned in Europe and elsewhere for years.