The food and drink additives, which have been linked to health issues, could be removed from products nationwide as a result of the new law.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill that bans four food additives linked to health problems, the first time a state has outlawed chemicals allowed by the Food and Drug Administration.

Starting in 2027, California will prohibit red dye No. 3, potassium bromate, brominated vegetable oil and propylparaben after Newsom, a Democrat, signed Assembly Bill 418 into law Saturday. All four ingredients have been made illegal in the European Union and some other parts of the world, but they can be found in commonly sold items in the U.S., such as some brands of orange soda, icing, hamburger rolls, candies and processed foods.

The chemicals have been associated with issues from hyperactivity in children to cancer.

  • EddieTee77@lemdro.id
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    1 year ago

    What’s sad to me is seeing that they are banned in other countries and these companies have already adjusted their recipes for those countries. They chose to keep the more dangerous chemicals in the US because they weren’t forced to change. The US seems to not care about it’s citizens

    • Stamets [Mirror]@startrek.website
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      1 year ago

      Yep. They’re banned here in Canada so a shit ton of American food is just illegal here across the border. It’s kind of insane that it went on this long. The whole “Red M&Ms are illegal in Europe” thing has been known for a while.

      • lagomorphlecture@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        In the long run out seems like you could sell more shit if your customers are alive but it would cut into quarterly profits and that’s what really matters.

        • ANGRY_MAPLE@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          They don’t care about the company’s future beyond their own personal gains from it.

          Tbh, I doubt that they would care in the slightest if the entire company closed the day after they left/retired. It seems like almost all CEOs have that target these days.

    • _number8_@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      capitalism is so cool. you’d think it’d be easier to just have one recipe for everywhere but noo

  • HeartyOfGlass@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    The FDA banned Red Dye 3 ~30 years ago… for cosmetics. Can’t put it in makeup, but food? ¯_(ツ)_/¯

    Gotta wonder how much money it took to make the FDA look the other way.

  • Kit@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    1 year ago

    Had to Google these:

    Potassium bromate is in flour and baked goods.

    Brominated vegetable oil is in certain sodas.

    Propylparaben is in certain packaged snacks like trail mix and muffins

    • Cheradenine@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Potassium Bromate is used in many industrial baking products, it strengthens gluten. This is important commercially because it gives a stronger bread product in a shorter time. The regular flour you buy for home use does not contain it, though some ‘bread mixes’ have, at least previously.

      It’s great that it is being banned, it should have been a long time ago.

          • ImFresh3x@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            At what dosage/concentration for how long though. I’ve seen studies like this with rat tumors. But in a few I remember, you’d have to consume an inhumanly impossible amount daily for years to be equivalent to what they were forcing on rats.

            Either way, I’m all for less toxic shit in the food supply.

            • Franzia@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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              1 year ago

              So the ingredients have been broken down for us, but if we out them back together Red Dye #3 does have proven strange effects in children. (Adults? I dont personally know).

    • pete_the_cat@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Brominated Vegetable Oil is one of the top ingredients in Mountain Dew, and I wouldn’t doubt that Red Dye No. 3 is in the LiveWire version.

      • lgmjon64@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        They stopped using it in 2020 in all PepsiCo products. So at least that’s a move in the right direction.

  • tiredofsametab@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    About time. My wife was floored by all the weird-colored shit in the US. It’s also why some of my childhood guilty pleasure snacks are banned for sale as-is here

  • Ð Greıt Þu̇mpkin@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Worth noting the EU probably didn’t “make” them illegal.

    The US requires a substance to be proven dangerous to be banned from use in food substances, the EU requires it to be proven safe to be allowed for use in food substances.

  • notannpc@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Imagine if the FDA did its job instead of forcing individual states to do it for them. California doesn’t always get things right, but god damn is this a massive W.

    • The_Worst@feddit.nl
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      1 year ago

      In Europe round-up is still allowed for professional use even though it’s linked to cancer and parkinsons disease.

    • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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      1 year ago

      I don’t know about the rest, but red dye there is, and one of those includes just not using it. Dye is a marketing tool that isn’t necessary for the product.

    • nelly_man@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Red Dye #3 is not commonly used in the United States anymore. Instead, Red Dye #40 is used and works just fine as a safe replacement.

      Brominated Vegetable Oil is used to emulsify flavor oils into water and is commonly used in citrus soft drinks. Sucrose Acetate Isobutyrate and Glycerol Ester of Wood Rosin are both be used for the same purpose.

      Potassium Bromide is added to flour to strengthen dough, allowing for a greater rise during baking. It appears that Ascorbic Acid (vitamin C) can replace much of its use.

      Propylparaben is an antifungal preservative that is used in packaged baked goods to prevent mold. There are other preservatives that can be used, but it sounds like parabens are the most effective for preserving non-acidic foods. I assume that propylparaben will be replaced by some other paraben.