Last year, a California law was passed banning the chemicals found in Skittles. The same lawmaker is now pushing to ban some food dyes in schools.
Snacks like Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, Doritos and Takis could soon join the banned list.
A bill has been proposed in the California State Assembly to remove artificial ingredients from schools, such as red 40, blue 1 and titanium dioxide.
CBS News Reports,
Varieties of Cheetos, including the popular and spicy Flamin’ Hot version, and other chips like Doritos include the dyes red 40, yellow 5 and yellow 6, all on the list of ingredients that would be banned if the bill is enacted. Cereals like Froot Loops and Fruity Pebbles also include these yellow and red dyes in addition to blue 1. Candy like Jolly Ranchers also contain these ingredients.
Some soups, brands of macaroni and cheese and other foods may contain titanium dioxide, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which has long advocated banning foods with this substance and synthetic dyes.
Under existing California law, the state education department must comply with nutritional guidelines when serving food on campus. Free lunch and breakfast are available to all students in kindergarten through 12th grade in the state.
Current rules state that foods provided to students must be fruits, vegetables, dairy, proteins, or whole grains. The regulations also set standards for calories, sugars and fats in these foods.
Jesse Gabriel, a Democrat, is seeking to change the rules to ban all schools from selling or providing foods containing blue 1, blue 2, green 3, red 40, titanium dioxide, yellow 5 and yellow 6.
Today I was proud to team up with a famous chef @tomcolicchio and public health experts to present #AB2316legislation banning 7 harmful chemicals linked to serious health problems, including DNA damage, cancer, hyperactivity, and neurobehavioral problems from food served to students. pic.twitter.com/SybexzSWRZ
– Asm. Jesse Gabriel (@AsmJesseGabriel) March 12, 2024
According to a 2012 study by the National Institutes of Health, red 3 causes cancer in animals and yellows 5 and 6 are contaminated with carcinogens such as benzidine.
There is evidence that blue 1, red 40, yellow 5 and yellow 6 cause hypersensitivity – excessive immune responses to allergens – and yellow 5 has been shown to cause genotoxicity, which can lead to cancer in rodents according to the study conducted by ‘NIH.
NIH has recommended that because these dyes do not improve the nutrition of foods, they should be removed. They said, however, that further toxicity testing is needed.
The Food and Drug Administration approves the use of colors in foods and requires evidence that a color additive is safe before it is added to products. It also requires manufacturers to include on product labels which of these ingredients are used.
The administration sent warning letters when the use of dyes was not disclosed, such as when yellow 6 in dehydrated papaya or blue 1 in pasta products were not declared. They have a list of products that have received warnings for not declaring the use of these ingredients.
According to CBS San Francisco, California was the first state to ban four food additives: red dye No. 3, potassium bromate, brominated vegetable oil and propylparaben.