California residents may no longer be able to “taste the rainbow” if one of their lawmakers has anything to say about it.
Skittles, Sour Patch Kids, Pez, and jelly beans are linked to cancer, due to their harmful additives. That’s why this lawmaker is looking to have them removed from California stores entirely. The candies are also believed to cause organ and DNA damage.
These are not the only items that are in danger of being pulled from California store shelves. Campbell’s soup, certain bread brands, and Trident sugar-free gum may also be getting the boot, according to the Daily Mail.
“Californians shouldn’t have to worry that the food they buy in their neighborhood grocery store might be full of dangerous additives or toxic chemicals,” Assembly Member Jesse Gabriel said, according to NPR.
He is the one who proposed the bill and it is based outside of Los Angeles. Propylparaben, red dye 3, brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, and titanium dioxide are the substances that Gabriel is targeting with this initiative. The European Union has already banned the latter three substances and now America is looking to follow suit. The law would prevent the sale and manufacturing of items in the Golden State going forward.
“This bill will correct for a concerning lack of federal oversight and help protect our kids, public health, and the safety of our food supply,” Gabriel continues. “The idea here is for [companies] to change their recipes,” he added.
Gabriel is hoping that the companies simply change the recipe all around, as opposed to looking to whip up snacks that are specific to California.
Now that the European Union, Canada, and Brazil are all taking steps to ban harmful chemicals from their snack foods, it is time for America to take the proper steps. We hope that other lawmakers from different states are willing to stand with Gabriel on this very important topic.