Overview

Governor Newsom’s January 2025 Executive Order (EO) on ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) directed California to crack down on unsafe food ingredients and required CDPH to report on the feasibility of conducting state-level evaluations of GRAS substances. To continue building on the Governor’s EO and California’s progress on food chemical safety, the California legislature should:

• Ban Carcinogenic GRAS chemicals: Carcinogenic food chemicals that secretly bypass FDA premarket review via the GRAS loophole should be prohibited.
• Fully Close the GRAS Loophole: Companies should provide evidence that their food chemicals are safe, and CDPH should review the evidence and prohibit use of dangerous and poorly tested food chemicals.
• Require Full Ingredient Disclosure: Companies should disclose chemicals they hide in their ingredients list under the terms “flavors,” “colors,” and “spices.”

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