California Governor Gavin Newsom has issued an executive order that mandates state agencies explore the safety of ultra-processed foods, food dyes, and "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) ingredients, and recommend actions to mitigate the adverse health effects.

The executive order characterizes ultra-processed foods and ingredients as “industrial formulations of chemically modified substances extracted from foods, along with additives to enhance taste, texture, appearance, and durability, with minimal to no inclusion of whole foods.” Common examples include packaged snacks, chips, crackers, cookies, candy, sugary beverages, and highly processed meats like hot dogs and lunch meats. It also calls attention to the myriad chemicals, such as food colorants, authorized for food use in the U.S., claiming that more than 10,000 such substances are currently present in the U.S. food supply, in comparison to the 300 authorized for use in the EU.

Many food chemicals enter the nation’s food supply through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) GRAS process, which lawmakers and scientists have criticized as a “loophole” allowing potentially toxic additives in food. In a recent article by Harvard medical and law experts, the authors called GRAS a “laissez-faire approach to monitoring the safety of ingredients” that poses a threat to public health.

In this context, California has passed several precedent-setting pieces of state legislation on chemical food additives and colorants in recent years, such as the California Food Safety Act and the California School Food Safety Act.

Continuing state efforts to crack down on chemical food additives, Gov. Newsom’s latest executive order includes, but is not limited to, the following mandates:

1. No later than April 1, 2025, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) will provide recommendations to the Governor’s office regarding potential actions to limit the harms associated with ultra-processed foods and food ingredients that pose a public health risk (e.g., the inclusion of warning labels on certain ultra-processed foods)
2. The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), in consultation with CDPH, will investigate the adverse human health impacts of food dyes, and provide a briefing to the Governor’s office no later than April 1
3. No later than April 1, CDPH and OEHHA will report to the Governor’s office on the feasibility of state-level evaluation of food additives considered GRAS, as well as state actions that can be taken if companies fail to notify FDA of certain food additives through the GRAS process

The executive order also includes actions aimed at decreasing the purchase of ultra-processed foods; increasing access to healthy foods; and improving the nutrition of and increasing the amount of fresh, local-grown ingredients used in California school meals.

Some groups have previously criticized California's approach to food additives regulation for leading the charge on an emerging patchwork of state regulations, however. For example, prior to the passage of the California School Food Safety Act, the Consumer Brands Association (CBA) stated, "[The bill] sets a dangerous precedent for state politicians to substitute their own views on food safety ahead of the scientists and risk-based review system that stringently protects America’s food supply. Americans deserve unified guidance that follows the science, not a patchwork of confusing laws.”