Bills advancing in multiple states could see ‘thousands’ of America’s favorite candies, snacks and sodas banned in their current form.
Last October California approved a historic ‘Skittles ban’ which outlawed four food additives linked to cancer, fertility issues and harm to the nervous system.
Now New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois have advanced similar measures, targeting a total of 13 additives banned in some European countries over alleged health risks.
New Jersey and Missouri are also considering the bans. If passed, they would force companies to change their recipes or face legal action.
Experts say the bans could change the look, taste and texture of some American favorites.
The above graphic shows the foods that are on the chopping block in some states
Brian Ronholm, director of food safety at Consumer Reports, a campaign group which has championed the bans, said: ‘There is no consumer confusion on this issue — they want these chemicals out of foods.
‘But when [consumers] see that the FDA has not been able to keep up with the latest research… they recognize that the states are the only ones trying to protect them from toxic food chemicals right now.’
California’s landmark ‘Skittles Ban’, set to go into force in January 2027, outlawed four food additives — brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben and Red 3.
Those ingredients have been banned in Europe for years due to their links to kidney, thyroid and gastrointestinal cancer and mood disorders.
The ban in California triggered the introduction of a series of similar bills in New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Missouri and Pennsylvania.
But some states are seeking to go even further than the Golden State.
New York’s bill calls for azodicarbinamide, used in breads and other baked goods, and butylated hydroxyanisole, a preservative used in processed meats, to be banned.
And lawmakers in Pennsylvania are calling for multiple food colorings — Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1 and Blue 2 — to be outlawed, due to their links to hyperactivity in children.
Red 40 can contain benzene, a human carcinogen also found in hand sanitizers and some dry shampoos, with studies including a paper from 2023 linking it to DNA damage and inflammation in the colon in mice.
Popular foods that contain Red 40 include Jolly Ranchers, Nerds, AirHeads, Skittles and Starburst.
Yellow 5 has also previously been linked to cancers because it contains aminobiphenyl, a carcinogen. Studies have warned over risks, including a 2015 paper which found white blood cells exposed to Yellow 5 for just three hours had damaging mutations.
And Yellow 6 has previously been linked to adrenal tumors in rats in studies, although the FDA does not consider this a risk in humans because people are often exposed to very low amounts.
Experts warned at the time that this could signal the color damages gut cells, raising the risk of them becoming cancerous.
Yellow 5 is found in cereals like Lucky Charms and Froot Loops and chips such as certain flavors of doritos and Cheetos.
Blue 1 has also been suggested by some studies in mice to be linked to hyperactivity with results suggesting it can affect neurodevelopment in the animals. Research that was not published in a peer-reviewed journal has also suggested tumors in the kidneys of rats exposed to the additive.
For Blue 2, studies in rats linked it to a higher risk of brain tumors, although it has not been shown to have the same effect in humans.
Both dyes are found in foods including M and Ms, Gatorade, Trix yogurts and Drippin’ Dots ice creams.
Studies have also linked both of the colorings to hyperactivity in children.
A 2021 review by the California Environmental Protection Agency found ‘synthetic food dyes are associated with adverse neurobehavioral effects, such as inattentiveness, hyperactivity and restlessness’.
Pictured above is reporter Luke Andrews reviweing items in grocery stores for food dyes
‘They are linked to restlessness,’ Ronholm said, ‘so that’s pretty much the crux of the effort to try to get these synthetic dyes out of foods in children’.
‘These additives are introduced to children at an age where they are still developing, and when you introduce them at a young age… it really just increases their risk over time.
‘When you combine the fact that they are linked to certain types of cancers but then linked to behavioral difficulties, it really highlights the point that these are things that don’t belong in food because of the increased risk that it presents. That is the crux of the bill.’
Chris Gindlesberg, from the National Confectioners Association, claimed that the studies linking the dyes to health effects had ‘blatant shortcomings’ and failed to prove a direct link.
Four of the five additives in Pennsylvania’s bill are already banned in some European countries, while one — Red 40 — can only be used in products if they agree to also carry a warning label.
But Health Canada said it had ‘reviewed the relevant scientific information on reported linkages between certain synthetic food colors and neurobehavioral effects in children and has found that the presented evidence is insufficient to demonstrate a causal relationship.’