In new legislation that passed the California assembly, Assembly Bill 418, and is likely to pass the state senate, California is seeking to ban particular and toxic food additives found in many foods, including Skittles, Hot Tamales and PEZ, effectively banning that candy from the state, if the manufacturers don’t make their products safer for human consumption.
The bill would prohibit the manufacture, sale or distribution of products containing red dye No. 3, titanium dioxide, potassium bromate, brominated vegetable oil or propyl paraben.
Some candy loving Conservatives are reacting by calling California the ‘Nanny State’, but unlike Immunizations and Vaccines, those chemicals, which are already banned in the European Union, really have been linked to cancer, reproductive issues and developmental issues in children.
The toxic chemicals are actually found not just in candy but in medicine, pizza, soft drinks, coffee creamers and, yes, flour. Some manufacturers already voluntarily exclude these chemicals from their process.
Governor Newsome hasn’t indicated if he will sign the bill into law if it reaches his desk, but If so the law would require food and beverage companies to change the recipes in order for their products to be sold in California, which would also force them to change their formulas for the entire U.S.
The food and beverage industry point out that the FDA has previously approved the use of these additives and therefore they should be sacrosanct from state laws.
Ironically it is exactly the opposite of the reasoning some have chosen to try to ban the abortion pill, mifepristone, also approved by the FDA.
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