(Bloomberg) -- California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered a crackdown on food additives linked to health risks, reflecting the growing bipartisan concern over the toll that highly processed diets are taking on public health.
The executive order directs the state health department to explore measures such as warning labels on products, expanded research into synthetic food dyes and stricter nutritional standards for school meals. It builds on a recent state law banning schools from serving food and drinks containing six synthetic dyes by the start of 2028, citing links to behavioral problems and cancer.
“The food we eat shouldn’t make us sick with disease or lead to lifelong consequences,” Newsom said in a statement. “We’re going to work with the industry, consumers and experts to crack down on ultra-processed foods.”
Newsom unveiled the initiative amid speculation over potential shifts in federal health policy under President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, which has nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
Kennedy has been an outspoken critic of food dyes and other additives, along with the role of highly processed foods and added sugar in fueling obesity. He has also faced criticism for advocating scientifically disputed ideas, including the removal of fluoride from public water supplies and the discredited assertion that vaccines cause autism.
Classifying foods as unhealthy solely because they are processed or ignoring their full nutrient content risks misleading consumers and worsening health disparities, said John Hewitt, with the Consumer Brands Association.
“As California’s largest manufacturing employer, the consumer packaged goods industry is committed to preserving consumer choice and maintaining access to the brands and products Californians depend on every day,” Hewitt said in a statement on Friday.
--With assistance from Deena Shanker.
(Updates with industry group comment in penultimate paragraph.)
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