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A NEW bill has been signed into law which will see around 12,000 food products banned unless manufacturers change their recipes.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the law on October 7, which is misleadingly known as the “Skittle ban.”
The California Food Safety Act will ban Brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, Propylparaben, and red dye three.
Around 12,000 food products currently contain these ingredients that have never been approved by the FDA, according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG).
Certain sodas, cereals, breads, and confectionery products will be among the items that will need to be revised including Pop-Tarts frosted confetti cake bites, Peeps, and Best Choice wheat sliced bread.
Bill AB 418 states that as of January 1, 2027, a person or entity will be prohibited “from manufacturing, selling, delivering, distributing, holding, or offering for sale, in commerce a food product for human consumption that contains any specified substance, including, among others, brominated vegetable oil and red dye three.”
It adds that a violation of the law would be punishable by a civil penalty of up to $5,000 for a first offense and up to $10,000 for each subsequent violation.
In his address to members of the California State Assembly, Newsom said that the ban was delayed until 2027 to give “significant time for brands to revise their recipes and avoid these harmful chemicals.”
The governor added: “Californians will still be able to access and enjoy their favorite food products, with greater confidence in the safety of such products.”
To prove his point about the food industry being able to adapt, he noted that Skittles, which have “become the face of this proposal” comes from the European Union which already bans many chemicals and colorants.
“This is demonstrable proof that the food industry is capable of maintaining product lines while complying with different public health laws, country-to-country,” he said.
“The additives addressed in this bill are already banned in various other countries,” Newsom added.
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“Signing this into law is a positive step forward on these four food additives until the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviews and establishes national updated safety levels for these additives.”
However, the National Confectioners Association released a statement blasting the new bill.
It said: “California is once again making decisions based on soundbites rather than science.
“Governor Newsom’s approval of this bill will undermine consumer confidence and create confusion around food safety.
“This law replaces a uniform national food safety system with a patchwork of inconsistent state requirements created by legislative fiat that will increase food costs.
“This is a slippery slope that the FDA could prevent by engaging on this important topic.
“We should be relying on the scientific rigor of the FDA in terms of evaluating the safety of food ingredients and additives.”
Former FDA Deputy Commissioner Frank Yiannis had warned Newsom against making a snap decision about the ban in The Orange County Register.
Yiannis warned that the ban would “set a dangerous precedent on how food safety standards in our nation are best established.”
He noted that three of the ingredients being targeted by the ban are currently under review.
Yiannis wrote: “In the case of brominated vegetable oil (BVO), the FDA has already initiated steps to remove BVO from the U.S. food supply, thereby making the California action unnecessary.”
He warned against “rubber-stamping what another country does” after noting that there are food additives allowed in Europe that are banned by the US because the food system for each nation is independent and complex.
The U.S. Sun has contacted Skittles, Kellogg’s, Peeps, and Best Choice for comment.
