Move over, MAHA. California has officially surpassed President Donald Trump’s “Make America Healthy Again” Commission in its effort to determine which ultraprocessed foods are the most detrimental to human health.
Numerous studies have connected eating one more serving of ultraprocessed foods, or UPFs, per day to an increased chance of developing or dying from dozens of negative health consequences, including cancer, heart disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other mental health issues.
Which among the dozens of ultraprocessed items on grocery store shelves is most likely to cause such health problems? To date, answers remain elusive. Research is still in its infancy. Expert advocates and food producers differ on the harms and definitions, while lobbyists fight behind the scenes.
However, California hopes to provide a remedy in just over a year.
On Tuesday, a bipartisan coalition in the California State Assembly approved AB 1264, which outlines a plan to exclude “particularly harmful” ultraprocessed foods from the state’s school meals. The bill’s passage is anticipated to be completed Tuesday night.
The Act demands that the first step, determining which ultraprocessed foods are the most harmful to human health, be completed by July 1, 2026.
AB 1264, if enacted by the California Senate and signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom, would be the nation’s first such legislation, according to Jesse Gabriel, the Democratic California assemblymember who filed it.
“Our understanding is that this would actually be the first statutory definition in the world, not just in the United States,” said Gabriel, who represents California’s 46th Assembly District.
Focusing on school lunches will have a huge impact on children’s health, he claims.
“The busiest restaurant in California is our school cafeterias,” Gabriel went on: “We’ll serve more than a billion school breakfasts, lunches, and dinners by 2025 alone. If you want to enhance young people’s nutritional health, starting with school lunches is an excellent approach to do so.”
The MAHA Commission, directed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is also working to improve children’s nutrition.
In mid-May, the group issued a Trump-mandated report proposing that federal agencies reconsider the impact of ultraprocessed foods (as well as immunizations, lifestyle, pollution, and overprescribing of pharmaceuticals) on the “childhood chronic disease crisis.”
The document was swiftly condemned for mistakes and claiming non-existent studies, as reported by NOTUS, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news source. The government dismissed the flaws as “formatting issues,” but other experts who previously talked with CNN say the mistakes indicate the report was most likely prepared using artificial intelligence.
Regardless, the MAHA Commission is scheduled to identify more concrete steps on ultraprocessed foods and related problems by August 12.
If all goes well, Gabriel believes AB 1264 will be close to being signed by then.
“We hope to have this bill on the Governor’s desk for a signature in late August or early September,” Gabriel told the crowd. “We are focusing on the worst of the worst UPFs, where there is very strong science, research, and data.” If federal regulators were doing their jobs properly, there would be no need for states to do this.”
In response, the Consumer Brands Association, a national lobbying organization that represents food and beverage industries, told CNN that the proposed California measure would establish an unnecessary duplicate regulatory structure.
“AB1264’s attempt to classify certain proven-safe ingredients as unhealthy is so broad that it could limit access to certain nutrient-dense foods, such as fruits, salads, and soups, cause consumer confusion, and lead to higher prices for Californians,” said John Hewitt, CBA’s senior vice president of state affairs, in an email.
