A California legislator unveiled a first-of-its-kind bill Wednesday that would phase out certain ultra-processed foods from meals served in public schools statewide.
If enacted, Assembly Bill 1264 would direct state scientists to identify what the legislation refers to as “particularly harmful” ultra-processed products. The bipartisan bill proposes removing such ingredients from public schools starting in 2028, with the goal of eliminating them entirely by 2032.
“The more evidence we see, the stronger our conviction becomes that it is important to protect our kids from dangerous chemicals,” Democratic Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel said in a phone interview before introducing the bill. “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.”
Ultra-processed foods are typically made with low-quality ingredients that have long shelf lives and include packaged snacks such as chips, candies, instant noodles, mass-produced ice cream and soft drinks.
“If you pick up a product and you turn it over, and it’s got 50 ingredients and you can’t pronounce 45 of them, that’s a good indicator that that’s probably going to be something that the scientists are going to look closely at,” Gabriel said.
It’s not clear how many products served in California schools would be affected by the bill and whether they would be removed altogether. Gabriel said the legislation might mean school districts are going to buy “one brand of granola bars instead of another” to avoid harmful ingredients, or it could prompt manufacturers to tweak their recipes to comply.
The bill comes as evidence mounts about the dangers of ultra-processed products. Higher consumption of ultra-processed foods has been linked to an increased risk of diabetes, cognitive decline, heart disease and cancer, among other negative health outcomes. It has also been associated with increased odds of having symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Despite the known risks, ultra-processed foods make up an overwhelming portion of the U.S. diet. Research has found they comprise more than half of all calories adults consume at home.
"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 Wednesday.
He added: "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."
In addition to not being nutritious, many ultra-processed foods have been engineered to interfere with brain signals that prevent people from overeating them, said Ashley Gearhardt, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan.
“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,” she said in a phone interview Tuesday. “There’s evidence that especially that combo of carbs and fats has the superadditive amplification of the reward system and the brain.”
Ultra-processed foods are generally thought of as containing ingredients not typically found in people’s kitchens, such as high-fructose corn syrup, maltodextrin and soy protein isolate. But “there’s not a uniform definition” of ultra-processed foods, said Scott Faber, senior vice president of government affairs for the Environmental Working Group, a national environmental health organization that is a co-sponsor of AB 1264.
“Even if you’re reading the label, it’s hard to know which foods are engineered to be overeaten versus foods that are created to nourish us,” he said.
The bipartisan legislation would create the first statutory definition of ultra-processed foods and would direct California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to identify the most harmful ultra-processed foods that should be phased out of school meals. The determination would be based on studies showing the products or their ingredients contribute to food addiction; whether they have been modified to be high in fat, sugar or salt; and research that links the foods to potential health issues, according to an advance copy of the bill reviewed by NBC News.
Gearhardt praised the bill for its focus on children’s health.
“We know that the earlier you get exposed to an addictive substance, the more likely you are to develop compulsive problems with it because your reward system is more malleable, your brain is more plastic,” she said.
AB 1264 is co-authored by Republican Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher, among others.
“When it comes to our kids, we’ve got an obesity epidemic,” Gallagher said in a phone interview Tuesday, adding that children’s health can’t be a partisan issue. “Our kids should be having healthy food to eat, and it seems like, increasingly, that is not the case.”
The bill comes amid growing momentum in both political parties to improve nutrition. West Virginia lawmakers this month passed a Republican-led ban on artificial food dyes that is awaiting the governor’s signature. Synthetic food dyes are also getting attention on the federal level, where new Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has called on major corporations to remove them from their recipes.
When asked about AB 1264, the Consumer Brands Association, a trade group, said in an email that "no industry is more committed to food safety than the consumer packaged goods industry." The group expressed concern about limiting ultra-processed foods.
"Restricting access to shelf-ready foods could exacerbate health disparities, limit choice and create consumer confusion," said Sarah Gallo, the association's senior vice president of product policy. She added that household brands are committed to working with regulatory agencies "on ensuring families continue to have access to safe, affordable and convenient product choices."
Gabriel has long advocated for nutrition, particularly for children. In 2023, he passed the landmark California Food Safety Act, which banned four potentially harmful food additives from products sold statewide.
In 2024, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed another of Gabriel’s bills into law, the California School Food Safety Act, which banned six artificial dyes from meals, drinks and snacks served in California's public schools.
The newest bill addresses other harmful additives in school meals, Faber said.
"It's not as if we're not going to feed children at school," he said. "We may just feed them healthier food."
