SACRAMENTO – Today the California Legislature took a historic step to protect children’s health by passing a trailblazing bill to legally define ultra-processed food, or UPF, and phase out some UPF from public school meals.
Assembly Bill 1264, introduced by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino), received overwhelming bipartisan support from legislators in the Assembly and Senate. EWG is sponsoring the bill, which now heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.
“Our public schools should not be serving students ultra-processed food products filled with chemical additives that can harm their physical and mental health and interfere with their ability to learn,” said Gabriel.
UPF are industrially manufactured and chemically modified products. They’re often made with potentially harmful additives to enhance taste, texture, appearance and durability.
The bill would also task the Department of Public Health to work with University of California experts to research UPF links to disease and health harms. These experts would then identify UPF that are “particularly harmful” and should be phased out of public school food.
The bill has bipartisan support, including from Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (R-East Nicolaus) and Progressive Caucus Chair Alex Lee (D-San Jose).
“In California, Democrats and Republicans are joining forces to prioritize the health and safety of our children, and we are proud to be leading the nation with a bipartisan, science-based approach,” said Gabriel.
“This new legislation will ensure that schools are serving our students the healthy, nutritious meals they need and deserve,” he added.
The food vendors that supply California’s K-12 schools would be required to comply with the law starting July 1, 2032.
Health threats of UPF
Ultra-processed food and drinks are designed to be hyper-palatable, engineered to be addictive and marketed to be profitable for their makers – all at the cost of nutritional value.
“Ultra-processed foods aren’t just unhealthy – they’re engineered for overconsumption. Like addictive substances, they hijack the brain’s reward system, making it difficult for people to cut back, even when facing serious health consequences,” said Ashley Gearhardt, Ph.D., and professor of psychology at the University of Michigan.
“America’s diet is now dominated by ultra-processed foods, many of which were shaped by the same corporate strategies that once hooked people on cigarettes. The result? Rising rates of obesity, diabetes and diet-related diseases, especially in children,” added Gearhardt.
Scientific research links UPF to serious health harms, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, metabolic disorders such as Crohn’s disease and fatty liver disease, reproductive and neurobehavioral harms, and mental health issues.
Obesity is chief among the health problems linked to UPF. Rates of obesity in the U.S. and globally have skyrocketed in tandem with rising UPF consumption.
Food companies have consistently opposed efforts to regulate UPF. They market and sell these products to consumers, in California and nationwide, without disclosing their potential harms.
Landmark UPF legislation
If Newsom signs AB 1264 into law, it would establish the first U.S. legal definition of UPF. A type of food would be considered UPF if it was high in saturated fat, added sugar or sodium and contains a food additive such as flavor, color, emulsifier or a thickening agent.
The state’s Department of Health would then use this definition to identify UPF “of concern,” so defined because they are particularly harmful and should be phased out of schools.
“Processed foods can have a place in a healthy diet, but Americans – especially children – consume too many ultra-processed foods, which contributes to increased rates of cancer, heart disease and diabetes,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, EWG’s senior vice president for California.
“AB 1264 takes an important step toward protecting student health by identifying and removing the most harmful ultra-processed foods from California schools,” added Del Chiaro. “We commend Assemblymember Gabriel and all of the bill’s co-authors for taking commonsense steps to better protect the well-being of California’s children.”
California schools are projected to provide over 1 billion meals this school year. AB 1264 would help protect students from harmful, hyperpalatable chemicals and ensure that all children – from a diversity of economic backgrounds – have access to healthy and nutritious foods.
“Healthy school meals are the fastest, most powerful way to create a healthier future for our children and our nation,” said Nora LaTorre, CEO of Eat Real, an EWG coalition partner.
California leads the way
California is changing the national conversation about food safety and school nutrition.
With strong bipartisan support, over the past two years the state has enacted two Gabriel-authored landmark food laws.
The California School Food Safety Act, signed into law in 2024, bans six harmful food dyes from being served in public schools. It followed a 2023 state law banning the manufacture, distribution or sale of food containing the chemicals Red Dye No. 3, propyl paraben, brominated vegetable oil and potassium bromate.
California has long been a bellwether state for public health protections. Now similar actions are sweeping the country, with food chemical bills introduced, debated and in some cases enacted in states from Arizona to Vermont, including Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania.
“Poor nutrition in childhood, predominantly due to processed foods, which are high in added sugars and low in nutrient quality, is a major and modifiable factor contributing to life-long risk for chronic diseases, including obesity, Type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease and heart disease and also affects learning and classroom performance,” said Michael Goran, Ph.D., and program director for nutrition and obesity at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
Goran is also professor and vice chair for research in the department of pediatrics at Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.
Newsom issued an executive order in January directing California agencies to look for new ways to minimize the harms of UPF consumption and reduce the purchase of soda, candy and other types of UPF, including those that contain artificial dye.
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The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action.
