California prohibits ultra -processed foods, additives in school nutrition

California is the first state in the country to be Ban ultra -proceduced food from school dishesstriving to transform how children feed on campus by 2035.

At the Belvedere high school cafe in the Los Angeles neighborhood in Boyle Heights, Gavard Gavin Newo signed a Measurement that requires K-12 schools to remove foods with potentially harmful ultra-processed ingredients Over the next 10 years. The requirements go beyond existing state and federal school standards for nutrition for things such as fat and calories in school nutrition.

California public schools serve nearly 1 billion children’s meals every year.

“Our first priority is to protect the children in schools in California, but we also realized that there is a huge market force here,” said Assembly member Jesse Gabriel, Democrat of ENCHino. “This bill can have impacts far beyond the classroom and far beyond the boundaries of our country.”

The legislation upgrades recent laws adopted in California to Eliminate synthetic food dyes from school dishes And some supplements from all foods sold in the country when related to cancer, reproductive damage and behavioral problems in children. Since then, dozens of other countries have repeated these laws.

The bilateral measure also comes at a time when the Minister of Health and Human Services in the US Robert F. Kennedy, the junior movement of “make America healthy again”, penetrated the light of questions, including chronic illness, childhood obesity and a bad diet.

The term “ultra -processed food” appears more than three dozens of times in Maha report on the health of children Issued in May. Next Maha Report the tasks of the federal government by defining ultra -processed food.

California’s new law beats them to impact, outlining the first legal definition of what makes the food ultra -production.

It identifies ingredients that characterize ultra -drained foods, including artificial flavors and colors, thickeners and emulsifiers, durable sweeteners and high levels of saturated fat, sodium or sugar. Often fast food, candy and pre -fed meals include these ingredients.

Researchers say ultra -processed foods tend to be high in calories and low nutritional value. Studies are related consumption of ultra -proceduced obese foodsS Today, One in five children is obeseS

Ultra -processed foods are also associated with Increased risk of cancer., cardiovascular diseases and diabetesS

Studies have been identified sweetened drinks and processed meats To be particularly harmful, said Tasha Stoyber, a senior scientist in the environmental work group that sponsors the legislation. Children are particularly susceptible to the effects of ultra -processed foods, she said.

“Ultra -processing foods are also available on the market for children with bright colors, artificial aromas, hyperpalativeness,” says Stoyber. “The distinctive features of ultra -processed foods are a way of selling and marketing more products.”

Gabriel said that MPs and parents became “much more aware of how what we feed our children affects their physical health, emotional health and overall well-being.” This helped to generate strong bilateral support for the law, which all, except a republican in the state legislative body, supported.

A coalition of business interests, representing farmers, groceries and food and drink producers, opposed it. They claim that the definition of ultra -processed food is still too wide and risks stigmatizing harmless processed foods such as canned fruits and vegetables that include preservatives. Vegetarian meat substitutes also usually contain things such as processed soy proteins and binders that can cope with the definition.

Gabriel claims that the law prohibits not food but more harmful ingredients. The California Department of Public Health must now identify ultra -procedural ingredients that can be associated with poor health results. Schools will no longer allow these ingredients in nutrition and sellers can replace them with healthier opportunities, Gabriel said.

Supported by the California Foundation for Health (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the necessary care when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org To learn more.