California will phase out certain ultraprocessed foods from school meals over the next decade under a first-in-the-nation law signed Wednesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The law seeks to define ultraprocessed foods. The legislation requires the state’s Department of Public Health to adopt rules by mid-2028 defining “ultraprocessed foods of concern” and “restricted school foods.”
Schools have to start phasing out those foods by July 2029, and districts will be barred from selling them for breakfast or lunch by July 2035. Vendors will be banned from providing the “foods of concern” to schools by 2032.
