California became the first state in the nation to prohibit four food additives found in popular cereal, soda, candy and drinks after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a ban on them Saturday.

The California Food Safety Act will ban the manufacture, sale or distribution of brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben and red dye No. 3 — potentially affecting 12,000 products that use those substances, according to the Environmental Working Group.

The legislation was popularly known as the “Skittles ban” because an earlier version also targeted titanium dioxide, used as a coloring agent in candies including Skittles, Starburst and Sour Patch Kids, according to the Environmental Working Group. But the measure, Assembly Bill 418, was amended in September to remove mention of the substance.

  • PlasmaDistortion@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    85
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    To me this is amazing news, I am allergic to Red Dye #3. If I eat something that has it, within seconds my throat closes and I can barely breathe. The worst part is that there is no need to use it. Sweet Tarts for example uses beets to get the red coloring in their candy.

    • lagomorphlecture@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      23
      ·
      1 year ago

      Well that’s terrifying. If you don’t live in California you’ll still have to watch for it after the law takes affect but it should be used a lot less.

      • JJROKCZ@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        29
        ·
        1 year ago

        Most brands will reformulate and all their products will be compliant rather than making a California only version and a rest of the us version. They aren’t going to just stop serving California either, it’s the largest economy in the nation and if it was on its own it would be roughly equivalent to Germany gdp wise

      • PlasmaDistortion@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        1 year ago

        I started to to compare ingredient lists from packages of candy and it was the only thing that was on all of them.

        • EssentialCoffee@midwest.social
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          1 year ago

          Those can be kind of hit & miss for food allergies. They prick your back with them, but if your allergic reactions happen in, say, your throat, there’s a good chance you won’t show as allergic. I found the pollen/dander prick test to be a lot more accurate than the food test.

          According to the one I took, I’m allergic to both pineapple and mushrooms, which I’m not. Also according to the test, I’m not allergic to any tree nuts at all, which eating those make my lips/mouth/throat swell and itch, in addition to making it hurt/difficult to breathe.

          So yeah, ymmv.

    • Franzia@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      Yep! I had problems with one of those red dyes as a kid. Made me go ape shit mode and I was violent every single time I had a candy with it. Then all the other time I was hyperactive but harmless.