Having Solved All Other Problems, California Sets Its Sights On Banning Skittles

Sometimes after you solve all of the major crises your state is facing, as California has clearly done with rioting, looting, shoplifting, drug abuse, homelessness, insane taxes and public defecation, you have to move on to smaller issues.

Like Skittles.

At least that’s what’s happening in California, where a proposed bill “could force popular candies like Skittles to change their recipes — or stop selling them in California altogether”, according to a new report from SF Gate. 

Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel introduced Assembly Bill 418 earlier this year, which seeks to “prohibit the manufacture, sale and distribution of food products containing five chemicals linked to cancer and other health risks”. 

One of those chemicals is titanium dioxide, listed as an ingredient in Skittles. 

A lawsuit was filed in California last year alleging that Skittles were “unfit for human consumption”, but it was thrown out. In 2016, Mars, the parent company of Skittles, promised to phase out the use of the chemical in its candy. 

Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel put out a press release last month stating: “Californians shouldn’t have to worry that the food they buy in their neighborhood grocery store might be full of dangerous additives or toxic chemicals.” 

“Many of the dangerous additives currently banned in the EU and other nations are found in processed foods and candies that are marketed to children, low-income consumers, and communities of color in the United States,” the release states. 

Eleven organizations, including the Consumer Brands Association, the National Confectioners Association and the California Grocers Association, all wrote a letter to the California Assembly Committee on Health last week opposing the bill, however. 

“All five of these additives have been thoroughly reviewed by the federal and state systems and many international scientific bodies and continue to be deemed safe,” they wrote. Signatories claimed that the bill “usurps the comprehensive food safety and approval system for these five additives and predetermines ongoing evaluations.”

“We’re aware of the opposition letter and believe that the lack of meaningful arguments, data, and evidence actually strengthen the case for our legislation,” Gabriel volleyed back.