Jesse Gabriel's Crusade Against Ultra-Processed Food
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- Jesse Gabriel authored the 2023 California Food Safety Act, signed into law to prohibit four additives — including brominated vegetable oil and potassium bromate — linked to cancer, reproductive problems, and other health issues.
- The FDA eventually followed California's lead by taking action on all four additives targeted by Gabriel's law.
- Since 2023, Gabriel has championed a state law banning six artificial food dyes and another measure establishing the first U.S. legal definition of ultra-processed foods while banning them from school meals.
- Opponents inaccurately nicknamed Gabriel's 2023 bill the "Skittles ban"; Skittles remain legal, and his staff commemorated the episode with a Skittles-shaped pillow in his Sacramento office.
- Gabriel was elected to the California State Assembly in 2018 and has emerged as a national-stage leader on ultra-processed food policy in recent years.
Why it matters: Gabriel, an Assembly member since 2018, has moved California to set additive policy the FDA then adopted federally, giving one state lawmaker outsized influence over the U.S. food supply. His first-in-the-nation legal definition of ultra-processed food gives regulators and other states a new framework for school meals and beyond.
