California Bans 6 Food Dyes in School Foods

Other states could soon follow. Here’s why, plus how to avoid the dyes.

By Scott Medintz
Investigations Editor

September 30, 2024

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California signed a bill over the weekend that will ban six food dyes from food served in the state’s public schools, making it the first state in the U.S. to take such a step.

The California School Food Safety Act bans Red Dye No. 40, Yellow Dye No. 5, Yellow Dye No. 6, Blue Dye No. 1, Blue Dye No. 2, and Green Dye No. 3. The chemicals have been linked to hyperactivity and neurobehavioral problems in some children.

“As a lawmaker, a parent, and someone who struggled with ADHD, I find it unacceptable that we allow schools to serve foods with additives that are linked to cancer, hyperactivity, and neurobehavioral harms,” says Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino), the California state assemblyman who authored the bill.

“This bipartisan law will empower schools to better protect the health and well-being of students and sends a strong message to manufacturers to stop using these harmful additives,” Gabriel says. “I hope that the overwhelming bipartisan support for this new law will encourage the federal government to take a more proactive role in protecting Americans from dangerous chemicals in our food supply.”

The law, which was co-sponsored by Consumer Reports and the Environmental Working Group, goes into effect on Dec. 31, 2027.

It follows the California Food Safety Act, a measure enacted last year in California that banned four food additives in all food sold in the state, including Red Dye No. 3, brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, and propyl paraben.

The California School Food Safety Act could prompt other states to consider similar bans, says Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at CR. Pennsylvania, in fact, is already considering one.

But John Hewitt, senior vice president for state affairs at the Consumer Brands Association, a trade group, says: “The passage of this bill could cost schools and families money, limit choice and access, and create consumer confusion. The approach taken by California politicians ignores our science- and risk-based process and is not the precedent we should be setting when it comes to feeding our families.”

Ronholm says that the Food and Drug Administration hasn’t reviewed the safety of these six dyes for decades. He hopes that what California has done will spur the federal government to act. “We’ve known for years that synthetic food dyes endanger our health, but the FDA has failed to take action to protect the public,” he says. “Toxic dyes in food that put kids at higher risk for hyperactivity and other neurobehavioral issues that interfere with learning have no place in our schools.”

Ronholm says that some of the dyes no longer allowed in California school foods have been banned in Europe and elsewhere for years.

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Avoiding foods with these dyes basically comes down to reading food labels. Food manufacturers are required to include them in ingredients lists. Keep in mind that dyes and other additives are more likely to be found in highly processed foods, especially candy, sodas, packaged breads, and other baked goods, and especially in generic and store brands.

You can also look up ingredients of thousands of food products—and search them by brand or category—using the EWG’s FoodScores database.

Scott Medintz

Scott Medintz is a writer and editor at Consumer Reports, focusing on the organization’s public policy work on behalf of consumers. Before coming to CR in 2017, he was an editor at Time and Money magazines.