Gov. Gavin Newsom signs bill removing synthetic food dye additives from California schools

https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article293199454.html

32 Comments

  1. I think this should be a national policy!! There are zero nutritional benefits from consuming synthetic dyes, any many potential health hazards. Turns out that my favorite barbecue sauce has THREE synthetic dyes, while similar brands have zero!! FFS!!!

  2. Republicans lawmakers blast radical California liberal Gavin Newsom’s oppressive “Stop Poisoning Kids” legislation.

    “Communism, plain and simple.” – Ted Cruz

  3. donnerpartytaconight on

    I know I’m not the only one curious to see what stuff looks like without all the dyes.

  4. This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article293199454.html) reduced by 67%. (I’m a bot)
    *****
    > Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday afternoon signed a bill that will ban schools from selling Flamin' Hot Cheetos and other snacks, candy and baked goods that contain synthetic food dye additives.

    > "Our health is inextricably tied to the food we eat – but fresh, healthy foods aren't always available or affordable for families," Newsom said in a statement Saturday.

    > "We know that high quality nutrition is foundational to our students' wellbeing and ability to learn. As someone who depended on school meals growing up, I know how critical it is that our children have access to food that is healthy and never harmful," said state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, who is running to replace Newsom as governor in 2026.

    *****
    [**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/1fsa70x/gov_gavin_newsom_signs_bill_removing_synthetic/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ “Version 2.02, ~694480 tl;drs so far.”) | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr “PM’s and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.”) | *Top* *keywords*: **food**^#1 **school**^#2 **Newsom**^#3 **bill**^#4 **healthy**^#5

  5. cindy_cherryberry on

    Goes into effect 2028, honestly should start sooner. Food additives are getting worse, at least this is a small win.

  6. Themathemagicians on

    The whole TTIP thing was sunk because people got wind of the fact that the EU having to lower food standards and accept crap like chlorinated chicken. US can have those standards too, just vote blue.

  7. I can just hear my father now:

    That commie punk wants to tell kids that they can’t have blue food. This has Satan and George Soros’s fingerprints all over it! First they take away the blue food, next thing you know, it will be legal to marry your dog!

  8. This should be happening more.

    Revelations in science continue to prove that we are being slowly poisoned by industry and they are willing to hide it.

    Good luck finding healthy people to work to death.

  9. AttilaTheFun818 on

    My fiancé is severely allergic to yellow dye. If somebody overdoses themselves with Chanel No 5 and she gets a whiff she’s messed up for two days. If she took a swig of Mountain Dew or had a Cheeto that’s an ER stay and possible death.

    That shit is everywhere, not just where you’d expect. For entirely selfish reasons I would love of artificial dyes were banned outright, they have little use apart from making stuff a bit prettier, but have negative health consequences in general. Obviously I’m biased.

  10. Honestly nice job Newsom. The more I think about it the more I wonder how effective this ban could be if they found a republican group to partner with that’s agricultural focused with a message something along the lines of “why change the beautiful food we’ve created ?”

  11. I’m divided on this. Good for him that he’d want more whole foods for kids! That’s never a bad thing. But at the same time, this all goes back to one study. And even if true, it can be a little misleading. While synthetic food dyes can have adverse effects for some people, so can strawberries or peanuts. If I eat ice cream or a cream soup or even enjoy a glass of milk without a lactase supplement, my gut is going to have a very bad no good day. That doesn’t mean that nobody else should be eating dairy.

    I feel a lot of this “chemicals are bad” type arguments about various ingredients is fearmongering and leading to a lot of disordered eating, because it doesn’t simply stop at food dyes. I’ve seen people make bogus ass claims about everything from seed oils to potatoes, to even water– usually in a pitch to sell some diet plan or supplement aimed at fixing the problem they claim exists. The diet influencers filming in grocery stores is a prime example and one of my biggest pet peeves.

    Another pet peeve I have here is that this view of nutrition can be outright elitist. Why? Because those foods that have the “bad” labeled ingredients tend to be affordable. Eating the “good” labeled foods that these shitgibbons are always trying to sell is expensive. It is perfectly safe to use, say, boxed mac and cheese as a base for a nutritious and balanced meal.

    The myth that a lot of these ingredients are not used in other countries has been pretty debunked. None of the dyes listed are banned. They simply require labeling, which we also have. And some foods banned in the US are allowed in other countries. Yes, the ingredients lists are longer– because we require it. Overall, the US tends to rank around third on average in food quality and safety, per the Global Food Security index. (Here’s a reminder that people’s personal choices about what foods they eat doesn’t account for the quality of what’s available.)

    Anyway, I’ll step off of my food science soapbox.

    But back to the point at hand… These are public schools. Assuming the meals are provided at no cost to kids, and assuming it’s feasible for cafeterias in ALL school districts, providing healthy meals made from more whole foods is a commendable effort.

  12. Gonna be honest opening the article with Flamin Hot Cheetos made me feel kinda called out.

    But hell all the kids food was colored like a fucking Skittles commercial when I was in school and I turned out fi- oh wait, the ADHD-CT. (ftr I personally don’t believe it’s caused by dyes or whatever but what do I know.)

  13. The children are overstimulated. Willie, remove all the synthetic colored food dye from the school cafeterias!