California has become the first state in the nation to prohibit school cafeterias from serving foods that contain six artificial dyes tied to health and behavioral problems. Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif.
, signed Assembly Bill 2316 into law on Saturday. Known as the California School Food Safety Act , it outlaws Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2 and Green 3 from the meals, drinks and snacks served at public schools statewide. The legislation was introduced by Democratic Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel in March, three years after a state report linked the consumption of synthetic food dyes to hyperactivity and neurobehavioral problems in certain children.
Other studies have also shown some of the dyes to be carcinogenic . While the Food and Drug Administration has not established a causal relationship between behavioral problems and synthetic dyes in children who haven’t been diagnosed with conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the comprehensive 2021 review by the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment found an association even in some children without ADHD diagnoses. “Overall, our review of human studies suggests that synthetic food dyes are associated with adverse neurobehavioral effects, such as inattentiveness, hyperactivity and restlessness in sensitive children,” the authors wrote .
“The evidence supports a relationship between food dye exposure and adverse behavioral outcomes in c.
