California is close to becoming the first state with an official label for food that isn’t ultra-processed.
Lawmakers in Sacramento have passed a bill creating a “non-ultraprocessed certified” seal that food makers can put on qualifying products. The same measure would require large grocery stores to give those cleaner options a more prominent placement on their shelves. Governor Gavin Newsom is yet to sign off on it.
If it takes effect, the seal will be voluntary, and a product qualifies for the label as long as it stays outside the definition that California already put on the books last year, when it became the first state to define and phase out ultra-processed foods and restrict their use in public school meals.
Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, who wrote the bill, modeled it on the USDA Organic seal, arguing it would give shoppers a shortcut through the ingredient list.
“Like the USDA Organic label, this new seal will provide consumers with clear, trustworthy information and make it easier for them to locate healthier foods that are free from harmful additives,” Gabriel said in a statement. “Parents shouldn’t need a Ph.D. in chemistry to understand what they’re feeding their kids,” the Assemblymember added.
The seal would enter a market already crowded with private labels. Several groups have already rolled out their own versions, including the Non-GMO Project and a nonprofit called the Non-UPF Program. Each uses its own standard, and consumer welfare advocates worry that having several competing labels will confuse shoppers rather than guide them.
The nonprofit nutrition watchdog, Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), has raised the same concern, warning that some of the labels lack strong nutrition criteria and could end up on products too high in sugar or sodium to qualify for the FDA’s “Healthy” label.
“If your primary goal is instead to seek out minimally processed foods or eat more healthfully overall, there are better approaches than looking for foods with non-UPF labels,” the group said.
Sources: Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, CDC, Johns Hopkins, CSPI, Food Dive