California Passes Ban On Ingredients Used In Yoo-Hoo, Cosmic Brownies (But Not Skittles) - Forbes

Topline

California’s state legislature passed a bill Tuesday banning commonly used chemical ingredients found in popular snacks and drinks including Brach’s Candy Corn and Strawberry Yoo-hoo, after studies linked those chemicals to health issues in humans, putting the ban on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk for a signature.

Key Facts

California’s House voted overwhelmingly to pass the bill, one day after the Senate voted 33-3 in favor of the bill, which if signed by Newsom would ban the sale, distribution or manufacture of potassium bromate, titanium dioxide brominated vegetable oil, red dye No. 3 and propylparaben starting in 2027.

Those ingredients, which are permitted by the Food and Drug Administration, are found in popular candies and baked goods, including strawberry Yoo-hoo, Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies, Entenmann’s Little Bites party cake muffins and Brach’s candy corn.

The bill faces opposition from the lobby group National Confectioners Association, which released a statement in March arguing “there is no evidence to support banning the ingredient” and that “chocolate and candy are safe to enjoy, as they have been for centuries,” though the chemicals in the ban have been linked to behavioral and reproductive issues, and been shown to be potentially carcinogenic.

Studies have found red dye No. 3, which was banned by the FDA for cosmetic use in 1990 following studies tying it to thyroid cancer, is also linked to behavioral issues and boosted hyperactivity in children, according to a 2004 study published in the medical journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.

The active ingredient in brominated vegetable oil has been linked to skin irritation, as well as memory loss and headaches from long-term exposure, while potassium bromate has been found to be potentially carcinogenic and has been banned in Brazil, Canada, China and India.

Surprising Fact

A former version of the bill also included the food coloring agent titanium dioxide, an ingredient found in Skittles, leading to the bill derisively being framed as a “Skittles ban.” The chemical had been linked to damage in DNA, called genotoxicity, according to a European Food Safety Authority report, leading the European Union to ban the chemical last year. The FDA had issued a statement after the bill was introduced earlier this year asserting the chemical is safe in foods.

Key Background

Pepsi removed brominated vegetable oil, an additive used in beverages to keep flavor oils balanced that also contains the element bromine found in flame retardants, from their Gatorade products in 2013. Rival Coca-Cola announced it would remove brominated vegetable oil from all of its products, including Fresca and Powerade, one year later. Japan and the European Union also ban brominated vegetable oil.