On August 29, 2024, the California Assembly voted to pass California Assembly Bill (AB) 2316, named the California School Food Safety Act, which aims to ban several synthetic food dyes from foods sold or offered at public schools in the state due to concerns about their toxicity. The bill will now go to Governor Gavin Newsom to be signed into law.
If passed into law, the legislation would go into effect December 31, 2027. The California School Food Safety Act targets red 40, yellow 5, yellow 6, blue 1, blue 2, and green 3 due to their potential developmental and behavioral harms to children. The bill was penned in response to a report published by the California Environmental Protection Agency that linked synthetic food dyes to hyperactivity and other neurobehavioral effects in children, and asserted that current federal Acceptable Daily Intake levels (ADIs) for synthetic food dyes are outdated and not protective of children.