Flamin' Hot Cheetos' days in California schools may be numbered.
A new bill aims to ban food products containing artificial dyes in public schools, including the ingredient that makes Cheetos pop their distinctive yellow and red colors.
Lawmakers say young, developing brains are harmed by chemical ingredients and that federal guidelines have not been updated in decades.
Assembly Bill 2316 targets six artificial food dyes — Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 — as well as the coloring agent titanium dioxide, which are ingredients commonly used to artificially color foods including candy. As well as drinks, some medicines and vitamins.
The Red 40 and Yellow 6 are found in Takis, Doritos, and Flamin' Hot Cheetos, and are the main culprits that turn snack lovers' fingers a soft crimson. Blue 1 is found in Froot Loops, and other synthetic 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 this is not an outright ban of any specific products, but of those chemical ingredients.
“This will not prohibit the sale of any of these foods in the state of California,” Gabriel said Tuesday during a news conference to promote 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 California Environmental Protection Agency study found that consuming artificial food dyes can lead to hyperactivity and other nervous behavior in some children. Gabriel said he was diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder as a child, and that his son has the same neurodevelopmental disorder.
Not only are Flamin' Hot Cheetos ubiquitous among many snack lovers, they are also a cultural phenomenon that has inspired art, rap videos, fashion, and restaurant menu items.
The spicy, neon red-dusted snack is as popular as it is controversial, with some schools having already banned the product.
Jazmín Urrea has used the crunchy, dark red snack as a medium in her art. One of her pieces, called “Pasarela de Chucherias” — which translates to “fast food track” — consists of a thick circle of Flamin' Hot Cheetos laid flat on the floor.
The 33-year-old, who lives in South Los Angeles, praised the proposed legislation, saying the community she grew up in and others like it are food deserts, dotted with convenience stores that sell snacks, rather than grocery stores or farmers markets. Which means less access to fresh foods.
“School should be an oasis,” she said Tuesday. “It's not like I want to completely stop people from eating their snacks. But at least in schools, it can be a food oasis. Ultimately, it will make our food choices safer.”
The Los Angeles Unified School District serves approximately 530,000 meals daily. The district did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the proposed legislation or whether any of the usual items on its menus contain artificial food dyes targeted in the bill.
Edgar Zazueta, spokesman for the Assn. One California school principal said there are not many schools that sell the snacks targeted in the ban.
“The biggest impact will be on student stores which often sell items for their ASB [Associated Student Body] For student funds, Zazueta said.
Gabriel's proposed legislation arrives several months after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a statewide ban against “toxic” ingredients found in some soft drinks and snacks. This bill goes into effect in 2027, prompting Just Born, which makes marshmallow-colored Peeps, to remove red dye No. 3 from its recipe.
The assembly member says the latest bill he presented is a way to protect children in schools. Details about how the component ban will be implemented have not yet been revealed.
“The science here is complicated, but the purpose of the bill is not,” Gabriel said. “It's about protecting our students from chemicals that have been shown to harm children and interfere with their ability to learn.”
According to the bill's language, elementary schools would be allowed to sell food items containing the banned 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 switch out their recipes with alternative ingredients or risk school districts across the state using alternative brands that do not contain artificial colors.
“So instead of getting the color from an artificial food dye, they can get it from beet juice, or turmeric, or pomegranate juice or any of these other natural ingredients 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 co-sponsors Gabriel's Law bill with Consumer Reports, recommends alternative snacks that don't contain food dyes, such as Rice Krispies, Kellogg's Egg Waffles, and Cheez-It.
He blamed the federal government for not better regulating food ingredients that can be harmful to both children and adults.
“The reality is that the FDA is not doing its job,” Faber said during Tuesday's press conference.
The Food and Drug Administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The National Confectionery 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 into the game.”
“These activists are dismantling our national food safety system state by state in an emotionally motivated campaign that lacks scientific support,” the group said in a statement. “The FDA is the only institution in America that can stop this sensationalist agenda, which is not based on facts and science.”
The confectionery group claims that any alternative ingredients would need to be vetted by the Food and Drug Administration and noted that there are no substitutes for Red No. 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 Hoenes, a senior nutritionist and adjunct assistant professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.
Instead, they are manufactured, Hones wrote in an email, and are “unnecessary, unhealthy, carcinogenic, and potentially inflammatory (which itself is a risk factor for cancer and other chronic diseases).”
She said artist Urrea was introduced to Flamin' Hot Cheetos before kindergarten. In sixth grade, she said, she became ill after eating too many snacks and had to have her stomach pumped. She also had her appendix removed.
The snack had a profound impact on her life and art. She rarely eats Cheetos now but believes they can be enjoyed in moderation. She said she mostly stopped eating Flamin' Hot Cheetos after researching their ingredients in 2016 in preparation for her piece. She said she reuses Cheetos in her artwork.
“And it still has that pigment,” she said. “They haven't fallen apart on me yet. They're stock but very vibrant and have that color. It gives you something to think about.”
Times staff writer Howard Bloom contributed to this report.
