California became the first state in the nation to ban four food additives found in popular breakfast cereals, sodas, candies and drinks after the government voted to ban four food additives. Gavin Newsom signed a ban on them on Saturday.

The California Food Safety Act prohibits the manufacture, sale and distribution of brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propyl paraben and red dye No. According to the Environmental Working Group, this could affect 12,000 products that use these substances.

The legislation was colloquially known as the “Skittles ban” because an earlier version also targeted titanium dioxide, which was used as a coloring in candies including Skittles, Starburst and Sour Patch Kids, according to the Environmental Working Group. But the measure, Assembly Bill 418, was amended in September to remove the content mention.

Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel (D-Woodland Hills), author of AB 418, called the move a “huge step in our efforts to protect California children and families from dangerous and toxic chemicals in our food supply.”

Gabriel said the bill will not ban any foods or products, but will require food companies to make “minor changes” to their recipes and switch to safer alternative ingredients. The use of the chemicals is already banned in the 27 countries of the European Union and in many other countries due to scientific research linking them to cancer, reproductive problems and behavioral and developmental problems.

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in children, Gabriel said.

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Many major brands and manufacturers, including Coke, Pepsi, Gatorade and Panera, have voluntarily stopped using the additives due to concerns about their effects on human health.

Brominated vegetable oil was previously used in Mountain Dew, but Pepsi Co. has since stopped using it in the drink. However, it is still used in generic soda brands such as Walmart’s Great Value brand Mountain Lightning.

Propylparaben and potassium bromate are commonly found in baked goods.

Red food coloring No. 3 is used by Just Born Quality Confections to color pink and purple marshmallow Peeps candies, according to Consumer Reports.

What they were really trying to do is change their recipes, Gabriel told The Times in March. These are all non-essential ingredients.

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The law will go into effect on January 1, 2027 and imposes fines of up to $10,000 for violations.

This is a milestone in food safety, and California once again leads the nation, said Ken Cook, chairman of the Environmental Working Group, which co-sponsored the bill with Consumer Reports.

The law could affect food across the country, Cook said, because the size of California’s economy could push manufacturers to produce just one version of their product instead of separate versions for the state and the rest of the country. country.

A similar bill, which would ban the same four chemicals plus titanium dioxide, is making its way through committee in the New York Legislature.

The chemicals banned by the new state law have not been reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration in 30 to 50 years, if ever, consumer advocates say.

Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also endorsed the bill as “common sense” in his daily Pump Club newsletter.