Ultra-processed foods <\/a>are made with ingredients that wouldn’t be found in a kitchen, such as chemical preservatives, sweeteners and artificial colors and flavors, according to Johns Hopkins, <\/a>like brightly colored chips and candy and smoked meats.<\/p>\n These foods have been linked to <\/a>increased risk of cancer<\/a>, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and premature death, dozens of studies have found. Yet, more than half of Americans’ daily calories come from these foods, federal data<\/a> shows.<\/p>\n Food manufacturers must apply to the state’s health officials to use the seal on packaging by June 1, 2028, with recertification every three years, according to legislation signed this week by California Governor Gavin Newsom. The governor said it was part of the state’s efforts to improve people’s health through access to healthy food and that California was ‘clearing the way for the rest of the country to follow.’ (Getty Images)<\/p>\n California isn’t the only state targeting ultra-processed foods and is also phasing them out in schools over the next decade. Arizona banned <\/a>ultra-processed foods in schools this year <\/a>and New York City has eliminated processed meats<\/a> and restricted artificial colors and sweeteners in school meals and in other city facilities.<\/p>\n The Golden State, however, is the first to come up with a label for non-ultra-processed foods.<\/p>\n “California Certified” labels are modeled after<\/a> the Department of Agriculture’s “USDA Organic”, which means a product was made without pesticides or fertilizers.<\/p>\n A potential mockup of the ‘California Certified’ seal (Courtesy of Office of Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel)<\/p>\n The state has also taken action to ban additives in ultra-processed food while the City of San Francisco filed a lawsuit<\/a> against some of the nation’s top food manufacturers, arguing that health care costs tied to ultra-processed foods have become a burden for states.<\/p>\n Nearly half of states are considering or have introduced separate legislation to regulate ultra-processed foods, according to the non-profit Environmental Working Group.<\/a><\/p>\n The Trump administration has also made moves to tackle ultra-processed foods led by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr’s “Make America Health Again” agenda.<\/p>\n Ultraprocessed foods such as chips and candy are made with ingredients that wouldn’t be found in a kitchen, including chemical preservatives, sweeteners and artificial colors (Getty)<\/p>\n The Health Department has pushed companies to transition away from artificial dyes in ultra-processed foods. “These poisonous compounds offer no nutritional benefit and pose real, measurable dangers to our children’s health and development,” RFK Jr said last April.<\/a><\/p>\n However, the department’s efforts have reportedly met with resistance within the White House, according to a report earlier this week in <\/a>The Wall Street Journal<\/a>. During a discussion about the definition of ultra-processed foods, White House staffers were allegedly concerned it may cover most food in grocery stores, with negative impacts for companies.<\/p>\n But HHS pushed back on this characterization.<\/p>\n “The idea that the White House is blocking the MAHA food agenda is false,” Calley Means, senior advisor at HHS, told The Independent in email on Wednesday, citing efforts to overhaul dietary guidance and artificial dyes.<\/p>\n “Together, HHS, USDA and the White House are driving these reforms while ensuring policies – including our work on ultra-processed foods – are scientifically rigorous, legally durable and deliver lasting results for American families,” she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new “California Certified” label will soon be available for foods in the state that are not ultra-processed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480697,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[188540,7,2926,9,8,188539,149654,457,46006],"class_list":["post-480696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-artificial-colors","tag-california","tag-california-governor","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-chemical-preservatives","tag-food-manufacturers","tag-gavin-newsom","tag-ultraprocessed-foods"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Food](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/the_independent_577\/10b270fc8ccb502b0071138defe6453c.jpg\"\/)
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<\/p>\n![\"Ultraprocessed](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/the_independent_577\/e4da84e46d7ca4ce388754368dfb9cdb.jpg\"\/)
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