Flamin’ Hot Cheetos continue to come under fire.
According to CBS News, California lawmakers are pushing a bill that would prohibit state public schools from selling the popular snack and others like it.
Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino) introduced A.B. 2316 on Tuesday, about five months after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the California Food Safety Act—a piece of legislation that bans artificial ingredients commonly used in the United States. The additives include blue 1, titanium dioxide, brominated vegetable oil, and red 40, which is found in Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and Takis.
“This legislation will not ban any specific foods or products,” Gabriel said, as reported by ABC 7 News. “The goal here is to encourage companies to make minor modifications to products sold in California if they want their products to be sold in California public schools, and let’s be clear, that’s a big market.”
In addition to red 40, A.B. 2316 would prohibit public schools from serving food that contains the dyes blue 1, blue 2, green 3, yellow 5, and yellow 6, as well as titanium dioxide, a color agent commonly used in cosmetics and paints.
Gabriel noted that the ingredients in question have already been outlawed in Europe, as they’ve been “linked to serious health concerns including DNA damage, cancer, hyperactivity, and neurobehavioral issues from food served to students.”
“California has a responsibility to protect our students from chemicals that harm children and that can interfere with their ability to learn,” Gabriel said in a press release. “As a lawmaker, a parent, and someone who struggled with ADHD, I find it unacceptable that we allow schools to serve foods with additives that are linked to cancer, hyperactivity, and neurobehavioral harms. This bill will empower schools better to protect the health and wellbeing of our kids and encourage manufacturers to stop using these dangerous additives.”
Gabriel confirmed A.B. 2316 is now headed to the Assembly Education Committee and is expected to be heard within the next month.
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