California lawmakers plan to ban food additives in candies like Skittles, Sour Patch Kids and some baked goods in the United States.
Rep. Jesse Gabriel, who represents part of Los Angeles, filed AB418 last month to curb the use of five common food additives linked to cancer, DNA and organ damage.
Of the five additives that would be included in the ban, three – brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate and titanium dioxide – are banned in the EU. One, the dye Red 3, is banned for use in cosmetic products in America.
If the bill becomes law, foods containing them must either change their formula or be banned for sale in America’s most populous state.
Foods that could be affected include other treats such as jelly beans, PEZ candies, Trident sugar-free gum, Campbell’s soup and smaller brands of bread from across America.
“Californiaians shouldn’t have to worry that the groceries they buy at their neighborhood grocery store might be full of hazardous additives or toxic chemicals,” Asm Gabriel said in a statement.
“This law will correct a worrying lack of federal oversight and help protect our children, public health and the safety of our food supply.”
The bill, which he introduced alongside his Democratic co-sponsor Asm Buffy Wicks, specifically targets five additives, one of which is propylparaben.
Asm Gabriel told : “The aim of the bill is to protect children and their parents from harmful chemicals.”
If made law, the law would also prevent the manufacture of food including these chemicals in the state – even if they are sold elsewhere.
While the state assembly only deals with matters in California, Asm Gabriel sees national implications of the new regulations.
“The idea here is for [companies] changing their recipes,” he explained, saying he doesn’t expect many companies to abandon the large California market.
Asm Jesse Gabriel (pictured) submitted the bill last month. He hopes to “protect” families in California by banning these potentially harmful substances
But if they change their products for California, they’ll likely make the change statewide.
“It’s unlikely they will have a recipe in California and one in Oklahoma.”
He said the five chemicals were specifically identified because each is already banned from food in the EU.
Titanium dioxide is the most notable of the group.
The additive was the focus of a 2022 lawsuit filed in the Golden State last year, alleging that the popular candy Skittles was unfit for consumption.
The naturally occurring powder is used to prevent goods from caking and is often used as a colorant.
It has been approved as an additive by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), although activists want the agency to reconsider the 1966 decision.
Calls for the additive to be banned come as increasing research shows the potential dangers of the food.
A German review of previous research published in 2015 found that titanium dioxide can accumulate in a person’s bloodstream, kidneys, liver, and spleen.
In 2017, French researchers found that this accumulation could put people at risk of intestinal inflammation, immune system damage, and even cancer.
Plaintiffs in the California case allege that Mars, the maker of Skittles, still sells the product despite admitting the additive’s dangers in 2016.
The additive was banned from food in the EU last year, with regulators citing the same concerns.
“Why are these toxic chemicals in our food?” said Susan Little of the consumer protection organization’s Environment Working Group.
“We know they are harmful and that children are likely to eat more of these chemicals than adults. It makes no sense that the same products that food manufacturers are selling in California are being sold in the EU but without those toxic chemicals.”
The food is also a listed ingredient for many Campbell soup products, Old El Paso sauces, and other candies and baked goods.
Another targeted additive is Red 3, a food coloring found in many candies and other sweet treats.
Since the early 1980s, studies have shown that the additive can cause cancer in laboratory animals at very high doses and has been linked to behavioral problems in children.
For these reasons, it was banned in cosmetic products in 1990 but remains in many foods and candies, including pastries and breakfast cereals.
Two 2016 studies found that Red 3 is in more than one in ten candies in the US and more than 80 percent of children under the age of two have consumed it in the past two weeks.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a Washington DC-based consumer advocacy group, filed a petition with the FDA last year to ban the chemical.
A 2012 study by Brazilian researchers found that Red 3 could cause genotoxicity — if the DNA suffers toxic damage — and also cause permanent transmissible changes to strains.
In 2020, the California Environmental Protection Agency found that children who consumed Red 3 regularly were more likely to suffer from hyperactivity and inattention.
A 2016 study led by researchers at the University of North Carolina, Asheville found that the dye was used in 11.1 percent of candies.
It was also found in 3.3 percent of pastries, 2.6 percent of fruit snacks, and 2.6 percent of cakes marketed to children.
Brominated Vegetable Oil is a plant-derived substance used to combine the elements of citrus-flavored soft drinks.
Prolonged exposure to the chemical can damage the body’s central nervous system. It has been linked to the development of chronic headaches, memory loss, and balance problems.
It was previously used in the popular soda Mountain Dew until parent company Pepsi removed the ingredient in 2020.
Sun Drop, a similarly flavored soda made by Keurig Dr. Pepper, still using it.
Many other budget and private label versions of Mountain Dew and Sprite sold across the country also use the chemical.
It has been banned as an additive in the EU, India and Japan. Its use in the US is limited to citrus drinks, where it has a unique ability to mix different elements.
Propylparaben is commonly used in baked goods as a preservative because the substance, derived from some plants and insects, has antimicrobial and antifungal properties.
Some highly processed, ready-made baked goods contain it. Backed Deserts’ Weight Watchers line – which caters to people trying to shed pounds – is among the culprits.
The additive has been linked to fertility issues in mice, with previous research showing it could reduce sperm count in males and interfere with estrogen development in females.
Some experts fear it could cause similar damage to the human endocrine system.
Despite this, the FDA still considers propyl paraben to be “generally recognized as safe.”
Potassium bromate is also found in many baked goods, including the popular Balducci’s brand of sugar cookies.
It is banned in the EU, Canada and Brazil, among others, because of its link to the development of thyroid and kidney cancer.
It is often used in processed foods to raise dough.