California bill aims to phase out harmful ultra-processed foods in schools

As states across the country move to ban food dyes, California lawmakers on March 19 introduced the first US bill that would phase out certain ultra-processed foods from school meals. If signed into law, Assembly Bill 1264 would establish the first statutory definition of what qualifies as an ultra-processed food and would direct state scientists to work with university experts to identify particularly harmful products, which would then be removed from school cafeterias by 2032. “We have not done enough to protect [children] from ultra-processed foods and beverages that have far more in common with a cigarette than they do a fruit or vegetable,” Ashley Gearhardt, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan and director of the school’s Food Addiction Science & Treatment Lab, said on a March 19 press call. AB 1264 is a “courageous step forward” towards treating ultra-processed foods like the serious health threats they are, said Gearhardt. To identify which ultra-processe ... Read full article.