RFK, Jr., the Make America Healthy Again would-be-goliath, campaigned against ultraprocessed (UPF) food, but that campaign has stalled out in the Trump administration. The new U.S. Dietary Guidelines, which are due this month according to Kennedy, were undercut by September’s MAHA Strategy Report and are unlikely to make UPF recommendations. Kennedy’s MAHA Report punts on UPF, as did the Dietary Guidelines Scientific Advisory Report before it, asking first for a federal definition of UPF before action is taken.
Meanwhile, California has surged ahead of the Federal government and has a new law to kick ultraprocessed food out of schools. I have read the signed legislation. It provides a clear definition of UPF and allows for three categories. “Ultraprocessed foods of concern” and “restricted school foods” would essentially be phased out by 2032. Ultraprocessed foods that are not in these first two categories would, by default, be allowed, addressing the argument that not all UPF is necessarily unhealthy.
The long timeframe of the legislation will allow almost three years, until June 2028, for University of California scientists to carefully weigh the scientific evidence about UPF substances in question and to consider if other jurisdictions have banned or restricted those products. This is a reasonable amount of time for the job at hand. The scientists will then determine for the purpose of California school food regulations if those substances are in a category to be phased out.
Interestingly, California had already, in 2024, set artificial dyes to be phased out of school food by the end of 2027.
California’s new law, the Real Food, Healthy Kids Act, is a positive and concrete step forward with a reasonable process to achieve a goal that the U.S. should be working toward on the national level with commitment and speed.
