Despite some viral social media posts asserting that a new California legislation will outlaw Skittles candy in 2027, the bill, which will prohibit some food additives deemed hazardous by some research, does not specifically mention the popular candy.
California has become the first U.S. state to outlaw the use of four potentially harmful food and drink additives that have been linked to an array of diseases, including cancer, and are already banned in dozens of countries.
The California Food Safety Act forbids the production, distribution, and sale of foods and drinks that contain red color 3, potassium bromate, brominated vegetable oil, and other ingredients that can be found in candies, fruit juices, cookies, and other products.
Supporters of the law argue that it just requires businesses to change their formulas so they may offer the same food and drink items with healthier components rather than causing well-known products to suddenly vanish from store shelves.
What the ban actually means for United States pantry staples such as common cookies and juices is up to the companies. The law gives manufacturers until 2027 to alter recipes to account for the banned additives, all of which have been flagged for carcinogenic or neurotoxic correlations or endocrine and reproductive damage according to a petition submitted by 24 groups and scientists. Each is commonly found in a variety of items — for example, propylparaben can be found in several popular brands of trail mix, and potassium bromate can be found in some brands of tortillas.
That said, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has signed off on these substances for years — though the Environmental Working Group points out that these substances haven’t been reviewed in decades or in some cases, at all.
