In a Los Angeles middle school, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law that asks California to slowly take certain ultraprocessed foods off its public school plates, a change that will unfold over a decade rather than overnight. The measure, which drew bipartisan support in the Legislature, reflects a quiet recognition that the foods children eat daily shape their bodies and minds long before they reach adulthood. Yet the law's true contours remain unwritten, awaiting a list of specific products that state health officials must name in 2028.
California Becomes First State to Phase Out Ultraprocessed Foods From School Meals
The headline is bigger than the rule, until the list exists.
Mark
So what actually changed on Wednesday?
Mimi
Governor Newsom signed a law making California the first state to phase certain ultraprocessed foods out of public school breakfasts and lunches. Full removal is due by 2035.
Mark
Why does that matter beyond California?
Mimi
Being first matters. And the backdrop is that kids in the US get nearly 62 percent of their calories from ultraprocessed foods, on average.
Luke
Worth noting that figure comes via the NBC News report, and it covers all of a child's eating, not just school meals. It doesn't tell us how much of that 62 percent the law touches.
Mark
And which foods are actually banned?
Mimi
That's undecided. The Department of Public Health has until June 2028 to name the specific products, weighing addictive potential, health evidence, and whether other states or countries restrict them.
Luke
So right now the headline is bigger than the rule. Until that list exists, nobody can say what comes off a tray.
Mark
Gabriel says districts that switched aren't paying more.
Mimi
He says some are saving money, and he pitched the bill as something parents across parties want.
Luke
That's the author's account of what his team found. No numbers were given, so I'd treat it as a claim, not a measured result. The bipartisan passage is documented, though.
Il Polso
- California has become the first state to draw a line against ultraprocessed foods in school breakfasts and lunches, and the line is still being drawn.
- Districts face the unsettling question of what will disappear from their kitchens, with no final list yet to guide menus or budgets.
- Lawmakers are trying to bridge political divides by framing the law as a shared parental concern rather than a partisan fight.
- Supporters insist that schools already shifting toward less processed meals have not paid more and some have saved money, though the claim rests on the author's word alone.
- The Department of Public Health must identify the banned products by June 2028, with phase-out beginning in 2029 and full removal due by 2035.
In a Los Angeles middle school, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law that asks California to slowly take certain ultraprocessed foods off its public school plates, a change that will unfold over a decade rather than overnight. The measure, which drew bipartisan support in the Legislature, reflects a quiet recognition that the foods children eat daily shape their bodies and minds long before they reach adulthood. Yet the law's true contours remain unwritten, awaiting a list of specific products that state health officials must name in 2028.
On a Wednesday at Belvedere Middle School in Los Angeles, Governor Gavin Newsom put his signature on a law that makes California the first state to phase certain ultraprocessed foods out of school meals. The law reaches public school breakfasts and lunches and gives schools until 2035 to remove them completely.
The bill passed the Legislature in September with support from both parties. Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, a Democrat, introduced it as a concern shared by parents across the political spectrum. He spoke of growing awareness, especially among millennial parents, that children's food affects their mental and emotional health as well as their bodies. Newsom called it a movement that should bring everyone together.
The urgency comes from the numbers: children and adolescents in the United States get nearly 62 percent of their calories from ultraprocessed foods, on average. The law defines the broad category as products with additives and high levels of saturated fat, sodium, or added sugar, but schools will only have to remove a narrower group called "ultraprocessed foods of concern," the products with the greatest health risks according to science.
That list is still unwritten. By June 2028, the state Department of Public Health must decide which foods qualify, weighing their addictive potential, the evidence of harm, and whether other places have restricted them. Phase-out begins in 2029.
Cost is the districts' central worry, and Gabriel says schools that already moved toward less processed meals saw no rise in costs and some saved money. That claim comes from his office, and no figures have been offered to support it. For now, what the law will actually change remains a question that the 2028 list will answer.
On Wednesday, at Belvedere Middle School in Los Angeles, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law that makes California the first state in the country to phase certain ultraprocessed foods out of school meals. The law covers public school breakfasts and lunches, and it gives schools a decade to finish the job, with full removal required by 2035.
The bill passed the Legislature in September with bipartisan support. It was introduced by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, a Democrat, who framed it as a matter of parents' shared concerns. He pointed to a growing awareness, particularly among millennial parents like himself, that what children eat bears not only on their physical health but on their mental health and emotional well-being. Many legislators are parents too, he said, and whether they are Democrats or Republicans, conservative or progressive, they want the same thing for their kids. At the signing, Newsom called it a movement that should unite everyone regardless of political stripes.
The scale of the issue is the backdrop. According to the NBC News report on which this account relies, children and adolescents in the United States get nearly 62 percent of their calories, on average, from ultraprocessed foods, items that usually contain few whole ingredients.
The law works through two definitions. The broader one describes ultraprocessed foods as products containing one or more additives, such as stabilizers, thickeners, colorings or nonnutritive sweeteners, along with high levels of saturated fat, sodium or added sugar. The narrower one, "ultraprocessed foods of concern," is what schools will actually have to remove. That category is defined as the products posing the greatest health risks based on scientific evidence.
Which products land in that category has not yet been settled. The law directs the state Department of Public Health to decide by June 2028. In making those calls, the department will weigh each food's addictive potential, the scientific evidence of health risks, and whether other states or countries have banned or restricted it. Schools must begin phasing out the identified foods in 2029 and be rid of them entirely by 2035.
Cost is the obvious worry for districts, and Gabriel addressed it directly. Schools that have already moved toward serving less processed meals, he said, did not see their costs rise. Some were actually saving money, according to what his office found. That claim comes from the bill's author, and the report does not offer figures behind it.
For now, the law's practical reach depends on a list that does not yet exist. When the Department of Public Health publishes its determinations in 2028, it will become clear which foods leave California cafeterias, and how much of what children eat at school the law actually changes.
Citazioni salienti
Parents want the same thing, whether they're Democrats or Republicans, conservative or progressive.— Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel
It's a movement that should unite all of us, regardless of political stripes.— Gov. Gavin Newsom
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Politics & Governance