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New Bill Targets Harmful Ingredients in California School Food

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on March 21, 2025.

By I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, March 21, 2025 -- Across California, kids are digging into lunches packed with chips, cookies and other ultra-processed snacks -- but a new bill could soon change what’s on their trays.

California lawmakers have introduced a new bill that would ban certain ultra-processed foods from school meals across the state.

Assembly Bill 1264 would begin phasing out these foods in 2028, with the goal of fully removing them by 2032.

The bipartisan proposal aims to protect kids from chemicals and additives found in many packaged foods.

“Our schools should not be serving students ultra-processed food products that are filled with chemical additives that can harm their physical and mental health,” Democratic Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, who introduced the bill, told NBC News.

Ultra-processed foods such as chips, candy, instant noodles and sodas are usually made with low-cost ingredients and often have long shelf lives.

They also may include additives like high-fructose corn syrup, maltodextrin and soy protein isolate -- ingredients not commonly found in your pantry.

Studies show that eating more of these foods can raise the risk for diabetes, heart disease, cancer and mental health problems like depression and anxiety.

Some experts also believe these foods are designed to make people overeat by triggering the brain’s reward system.

“The foods that we see that people show the common signs of addiction with are those ultra-processed foods that are high in both carbohydrates and fats in a way that we don’t see in nature, and at levels that we don’t see in nature,” Ashley Gearhardt, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan, told NBC News.

“There’s evidence that especially that combo of carbs and fats has the superadditive amplification of the reward system and the brain,” she added.

The bill would have California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment define which foods are most harmful, based on their fat, sugar and/or salt content, and whether they've been linked to food addiction or other serious health risks.

Gabriel said schools might just switch to “one brand of granola bars instead of another” or change recipes to meet the new rules.

"Americans are among the world’s biggest consumers of ultra-processed foods, and we are paying the price for it, both in terms of our declining health and our rapidly rising health care costs," Gabriel said at a news conference, according to NBC News.

"This proposal is based on the common-sense premise that our public schools should not be serving students ultra-processed food products that can harm their physical or mental health or interfere with their ability to learn," he added.

This is not Gabriel’s first push for safer school food. In 2023, he passed the California Food Safety Act, which banned four harmful food additives from products sold in the state.

In 2024, his California School Food Safety Act banned six artificial dyes from school meals.

Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher, co-author of the proposed bill, said children’s health shouldn’t be a partisan issue.

“When it comes to our kids, we’ve got an obesity epidemic,” he said. “Our kids should be having healthy food to eat, and it seems like, increasingly, that is not the case.”

“It’s not as if we’re not going to feed children at school,” Scott Faber of the Environmental Working Group, added. “We may just feed them healthier food.”

Some observers have expressed concern.

"Restricting access to shelf-ready foods could exacerbate health disparities, limit choice and create consumer confusion," said Sarah Gallo, Consumer Brands Association's senior vice president of product policy.

She added that food companies want to work with regulators to keep products safe, affordable and convenient.

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted March 2025

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