California will become the first state to phase out some ultra-processed food at school. The new law was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last week at Belvedere Middle School in Los Angeles and prohibits public schools from serving this type of food in breakfasts and lunches.
The policy defines ultra-processed food as foods based on scientific research that pose the greatest risk to consumers’ health, which the state’s Public Health Department will determine what particular products meet this definition by June 2028.
“There’s really a growing awareness, particularly among millennial parents like myself, about how what we feed our kids is not important just to their physical health, but also so deeply connected to their mental health and their emotional well-being,” Jesse Gabriel, state Assemblymember, who introduced the legislation, said. “We have a lot of parents like me in the Legislature, and it turns out that whether they’re Democrat or Republicans or conservative or progressive, parents want the same thing.”
While 62 percent of a child or adolescent’s calories comes from ultra-processed food in the United States, over consumption of these foods have been linked to adverse health affects including cancer, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.
The law, which creates a definition for “ultra-processed food of concern,” will require schools to start phasing out these ultra-processed foods by 2029 and fully by 2035. The law will consider a food as ultra-processed if it contains one or more additive including coloring and artificial sweeteners, plus high levels of saturated fat, sodium or added sugar.
“It’s a movement that should unite all of us, regardless of political stripes,” Newsom said.
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