California To Phase Out Ultra-Processed Foods From School Lunches

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed legislation Wednesday making California the first state to ban ultra-processed foods from public school lunches. The move comes as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. zeroes in on these foods as a major suspect in the U.S. childhood obesity epidemic.

While there appears to be growing bipartisan agreement — with even some major industry players committing to removing some additives — some public health experts caution there’s more to the “ultra-processed” label than meets the eye.

GOING GREEN 🥦
California’s “Real Food, Healthy Kids Act” will phase certain processed foods “of concern“ out of public school lunches over the next 10 years, resulting in a ban by the end of 2035.

  • There is no universal definition of ultra-processed food, so the act is creating its own by 2028. So far, it defines ultra-processed foods as those that contain non-nutritional sweeteners, or foods that have flavor or color enhancers with high sodium content, added sugars, and more.

    • Brazilian researchers popularized the term in 2010 when they developed the NOVA classification system, which ranks foods from minimally processed (like fruits, beans, and milk) to ultra-processed (like fast food, sodas, and packaged snacks).

Scientific studies have tied ultra-processed foods to increased risk of obesity and asthma. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that 62% of the calories children consumed between 2021 and 2023 were from ultra-processed foods.

The Real Foods, Healthy Kids Act also includes recommendations of maximum daily sugar and sodium intake for children of every grade level.

MORE TO THE STORY
Harvard nutrition expert and professor of pediatrics, Dr. David Ludwig, warns that politicians may be repeating the “low-fat diet” era’s mistakes — this time, replacing the 1980s boogeyman of fat with today’s ultra-processed food. In a Washington Post op-ed, he argues that lumping soda and sweetened cereal together with foods like yogurt, tofu, or protein bars is an oversimplification. Not all processing is harmful, he notes — and some additives can actually make foods healthier.

“For now, health officials should focus on the industrial products for which there is strong evidence of harm: refined grains, sugar and other highly processed carbohydrates,” he argues.

Rewind: Then–First Lady Michelle Obama’s initiative to make school lunches healthier and more affordable under the “Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act,” signed in 2010, sparked major backlash from conservatives. The Heritage Foundation accused her of “arrogance” and trying to “co-parent your children,” calling the program costly and not addressing other major issues.

  • A JAMA study from the University of Washington later found that the program achieved healthier lunches — showing about a 30% increase in healthy eating scores for low-income students.

  • Obesity rates in children have continued to rise since then, and with Trump and Kennedy in office, conservatives appear to have changed their tune on this issue.

A MORE POLARIZING TAKE
While this administration’s moves regarding food have been popular, one of Kennedy’s MAHA initiatives is getting a lot more pushback. At a Cabinet meeting Thursday, Kennedy promoted a disputed theory linking Tylenol use after circumcision to higher rates of autism, which major health authorities have disputed. Trump echoed Kennedy’s remarks, also warning pregnant women not to take the drug.

Kennedy, who has long promoted unverified health claims and vaccine skepticism, is facing renewed criticism from medical experts warning that such comments risk spreading misinformation. While autism rates have gone up in recent years, circumcision and Tylenol use during pregnancy has become less common.

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