CALIFORNIA

California is cracking down on Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and Twinkies

State lawmakers have voted to ban chemicals used in both snacks from school lunchrooms.

State lawmakers on Thursday voted to prohibit California schools from serving food additives used in Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, Twinkies and other fluorescent snacks. | Reed Saxon photo

by BLAKE JONES
August 29, 2024

SACRAMENTO, California — Move over, Michelle Obama. The California Legislature just passed a school meal rule that could really leave a mark.

State lawmakers on Thursday voted to prohibit California schools from serving food additives used in Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, Twinkies and other fluorescent snacks. The move, backers argue, is necessary to limit intake of dyes that have been linked to worsened behavioral issues in kids who have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.

“California has a responsibility to protect our students from chemicals that harm children and interfere with their ability to learn,” Democratic Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, the author of the bill, said in a statement. “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 hyperactivity and neurobehavioral harms.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom still needs to sign the first-in-the-nation proposal. But fear of a children’s uprising did not prevent him from signing a similar bill last year that outlawed the sale of food containing a dye used in Peeps.

An earlier version of the 2023 law would have outlawed titanium dioxide across California — which earned it the title of “Skittles ban” on some corners of the internet because it is used to color the candy — though that provision was removed.

Addressing conservative criticism, Newsom attached to his signing message a bag of the candy that was produced in Europe, where manufacturers tweaked their recipes when the European Union banned the same chemical.

Industry opponents have been fighting this year’s bill and disputing reports about its damage to people’s health.

“It’s unfortunate that scientifically proven, safe ingredients have been demonized for the purpose of advancing a political agenda,” John Hewitt of the Consumer Brands Association said in a statement. “The passage of this bill could cost schools and families money, limit choice and access, and create consumer confusion.”

The proposal wouldn’t stop stores from selling food containing the dyes, or prevent kids from bringing their candies of choice to school. But Gabriel hopes it will nudge food makers to change their formulas.

“This bill will empower schools to better protect the health and wellbeing of our kids and encourage manufacturers to stop using these harmful additives,” he said.