A California bill that would ban ingredients in popular treats such as Skittles and Sour Patch Kids moved a step closer to becoming law.
If the bill becomes law, it will block five chemicals from being used in foods sold or manufactured in the state. Each of these chemicals is already banned in the EU.
Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel, who filed the bill the February, told DailyMail.com in March that the ‘the goal of the bill is to protect kids and their parents from harmful chemicals.’ He hopes that it will spur manufacturers to ditch these chemicals, the same way they had to do to comply with regulations in Europe.
Among the affected chemicals in Red 3, a food dye used in some candies. Previous research linked exposure to it to cancer in mice.
The state Assembly’s Committee on Health passed the bill by a 12-1 vote Tuesday, sending the bill to the Committee on Environmental Safety on Toxic Materials.
Asm Gabriel, a Democrat who represents the 46th district just northwest of Los Angeles, said in a release Wednesday: ‘There is no realistic chance that this bill will result in Skittles or any other product being pulled off the shelf.
‘The idea here is for these companies to make minor modifications to their recipes so that these products no longer include dangerous and toxic chemicals.’
He added: ‘Skittles and many other brands have already made changes to their recipes in the European Union, the United Kingdom and other nations where these chemicals are banned.
‘While the chemical companies might want you to believe we’re going too far with this bill, we are in fact many steps behind the rest of the world.
‘We simply want our kids to have the same protection.’
Among the dozen ‘yea’ voters for AB418, 11 were Democrats, with Republican Asm Marie Waldron of San Diego joining them.
Republican Asm Vince Fong, who represents an area around Bakersfield, California, was the lone ‘no’
vote.