The days of Flamin' Hot Cheetos in California schools may be numbered.
A new bill aims to ban food products in public schools that contain artificial colors, including the ingredient that makes Cheetos pop their signature yellow and red colors.
Lawmakers argue that chemical ingredients harm young, developing minds and that federal guidelines have not been updated in decades.
Assembly Bill 2316 targets six synthetic food dyes (blue 1, blue 2, green 3, red 40, yellow 5, and yellow 6). as well as the coloring agent titanium dioxide, ingredients commonly used to artificially dye foods, including sweets, as well as drinks and some medicines and vitamins.
Red 40 and Yellow 6 are found in Takis, Doritos, and Flamin' Hot Cheetos, the main culprits turning snack lovers' fingers a dusty crimson. Blue 1 is found in Froot Loops and other artificial dyes can be found in Jolly Ranchers, M&Ms, Sour Patch Kids, and Mountain Dew.
Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino) introduced the bill and emphasized that it is not a total ban on any specific product, but rather on those chemical ingredients.
“This will not prohibit the sale in the state of California of any of these foods,” Gabriel said Tuesday during a news conference promoting the bill. “This is not a food ban. This does not mean banning Flamin' Hot Cheetos in California.”
Flamin' Hot Cheetos' parent company, Frito-Lay, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A 2021 study from the California Environmental Protection Agency found that consuming synthetic food dyes could cause hyperactivity and other neurological behaviors in some children. Gabriel said he was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder when he was a child and his own son has the same neurodevelopmental disorder.
Flamin' Hot Cheetos are not only ubiquitous among many diners, but they are also a cultural phenomenon that has inspired art, rap videos, fashion, and restaurant menu items.
The snack's spicy kick and neon red powder are as popular as they are controversial, and some schools have already banned the product.
Jazmín Urrea has used the dark red crunchy snack as a medium in her art. One of his pieces, called “Pasarela de Chucherías,” which translates as “a path of junk food,” consists of a thick circle of Flamin' Hot Cheetos placed on the floor.
The 33-year-old, who lives in South Los Angeles, applauded the proposed legislation and said the community she grew up in and others like it are food deserts, dotted with convenience stores selling snacks rather than grocery stores. or farmers markets. which means little access to fresh food.
“School should be an oasis,” he said Tuesday. “It's not that I want to completely ban people from snacking. But at least in schools, it can be more of a food oasis. Ultimately, it will make our food selection safer.”
The Los Angeles Unified School District serves approximately 530,000 meals daily. The district did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the proposed legislation or whether any of its regular menu items contain the artificial food coloring referred to in the bill.
Edgar Zazueta, spokesman for the Association. of California School Administrators, said there are not many schools that sell the snacks targeted by the ban.
“The biggest impact would be for student stores that often sell items for their ASB. [Associated Student Body] for student funds,” Zazueta said.
Gabriel's proposed legislation comes several months after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law banning “toxic” ingredients found in some sodas and snacks statewide. That bill goes into effect in 2027 and led Just Born, which makes the colorful Peeps marshmallows, to remove red dye No. 3 from its recipe.
The assemblyman says his latest bill is a means to protect children in school. Details on how the ingredient ban would be implemented have not yet been revealed.
“The science here is complicated, but the purpose of the bill is not,” Gabriel said. “This is about protecting our students from chemicals that have been shown to harm children and interfere with their ability to learn.”
Under the text of the bill, elementary schools would be allowed to sell foods containing prohibited ingredients during fundraising events, either off-campus or at least 30 minutes after the end of the school day.
The bill aims to encourage manufacturers who want to continue selling their products in schools to change their recipes with alternative ingredients or risk having school districts across the state use alternative brands that do not have artificial colors.
“So instead of getting the color from a synthetic food coloring, they could get it from beet juice, or from turmeric, or from pomegranate juice, or from any of these other natural ingredients that are out there,” Gabriel said. “We know that these companies are capable of making a safer version of their products.”
Scott Faber of the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit advocacy group that is co-sponsoring Gabriel's bill with Consumer Reports, recommends alternative snacks that don't have food dyes, such as Rice Krispies, Kellogg's Eggo Waffles and Cheez-It.
He blamed the federal government for not better regulating food ingredients that could be harmful to both children and adults.
“The truth is, the FDA is not doing its job,” Faber said during Tuesday's briefing.
The Food and Drug Administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The National Confectioners Association, a trade organization that promotes the interests of candy companies in the United States, said in response to Gabriel's proposed legislation that the FDA needs to “wake up and get in the game.”
“These activists are dismantling our national food safety system state by state in an emotion-driven campaign that lacks scientific backing,” the group said in a statement. The “FDA is the only institution in the United States that can stop this sensational agenda, which is not based on facts or science.”
The baking group says any replacement ingredients should be reviewed by the FDA and noted that there are no alternatives to red dye number 3 or titanium dioxide that have been approved by the federal government.
None of the dyes proposed in the ingredient ban are part of a natural diet, said Dana Hunnes, senior dietitian and adjunct assistant professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.
Instead, they are manufactured, Hunnes wrote in an email, and are “unnecessary, unhealthy, carcinogenic, and likely inflammatory (which themselves are a risk factor for cancer and other chronic diseases).”
Urrea, the artist, was introduced to Flamin' Hot Cheetos before kindergarten, she said. In sixth grade, she said she got sick after eating too many snacks and had to have her stomach pumped. She also had her appendix removed.
The snack has had a profound effect on his life and his art. He rarely eats Cheetos now, but he believes they can be enjoyed in moderation. She said she practically stopped eating Flamin' Hot Cheetos after researching his ingredients in 2016 in preparation for his artwork. She said he reuses Cheetos in his artwork.
“And it still contains that dye,” he said. “They haven't disintegrated on me yet. They are in storage but are very vibrant and maintain that color. “That gives you something to think about.”
Times staff writer Howard Blume contributed to this report.
