In California, The War On Ultraprocessed Foods Moves To The Supermarket

SACRAMENTO, California — A California Democrat is pushing a bill to create the nation’s first seal of approval for non-ultraprocessed foods — and require grocery stores to prominently display those products at the ends of aisles and other visible locations.

The legislation, shared first with POLITICO, is the latest in a broader war on unhealthy food gaining traction at both the federal and state level, and across parties, with bipartisan support nationally for ridding American diets of ultraprocessed foods. It would create a “California Certified” seal on foods that aren’t ultraprocessed.

The bill comes just months after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation phasing ultraprocessed foods out of school lunches. California has also enacted laws banning food containing certain dyes from being sold in schools by 2027, and banning food containing chemicals like red 40 from being sold in the state by the same year.

“Now we're taking the next logical step to continue that work, which is addressing ultraprocessed foods in our grocery stores,” the latest bill’s author, Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, told POLITICO. “But we're doing it in a way that strengthens consumer choice and encourages innovation.”

He said his legislation is modeled after the “USDA Organic” label, which is awarded after companies pay to have their products certified organic by an accrediting agent (California remains the only state with its own State Organic Program). The requirements of this bill are similar: By June 2028, applicants would be able to apply to an accredited certification agent to have their products approved to use the “California Certified” seal, and renew that certification every three years.

“There's a lot of manufacturers that make claims about their products that aren't necessarily all that clarifying for consumers,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, who leads California operations for the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit organization that has worked on previous ultraprocessed food-related bills with Gabriel. “The beauty of this idea is because the label will absolutely say ‘not ultraprocessed,’ it will be a beacon for consumers.”

The targeting of ultraprocessed foods is both popular and bipartisan: the rare public health issue that can tick both of those boxes. More than 60 percent of people said they support removing ultraprocessed foods from shelves in a poll conducted by POLITICO and Public First this month, including 73 percent of Donald Trump voters and 66 percent of Kamala Harris voters.

It’s a cause popularized at the federal level by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his Make America Healthy Again movement. His “Eat Real Food” campaign, launched during the Super Bowl with a commercial featuring Mike Tyson, is also keenly focused on driving people away from what he calls “highly processed” foods.

In response, national manufacturers have escalated their pushback in recent months, arguing that regulatory burdens drive up the price for consumers and that state regulations on ingredients “risk undermining the system.” In legislation passed last year, lawmakers defined as ultraprocessed any food or beverage that contains flavor or color enhancers and that is high in saturated fats, sodium or specific added sugars or sweeteners.

In an interview, Gabriel said that “those who are trying to protect the broken status quo need to read the room, and they're deeply out of step with the American public.”