California Moves to Eliminate Ultraprocessed Foods from School Lunches — by 2035
Dr. Joseph Mercola - Take Control of Your Health · Dr. Joseph Mercola
November 26, 20256m 34s
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Show Notes
- California became the first state in the U.S. to ban ultraprocessed foods from public school lunches under the "Real Food, Healthy Kids Act," but the full phase-out won't take effect until 2035
- Ultraprocessed foods — packed with vegetable oils, additives, and refined sugars — are engineered to trigger cravings and disrupt metabolism, contributing to childhood obesity, insulin resistance, and fatty liver disease
- A study in JAMA Network Open found that preschoolers who ate the most ultraprocessed foods had higher body fat, larger waistlines, elevated blood sugar, and lower levels of protective HDL cholesterol
- The delayed timeline leaves millions of children unprotected for nearly a decade, underscoring the urgent need for parents to remove ultraprocessed foods and vegetable oils from their homes now
- You can protect your child's long-term health by replacing processed snacks with real foods, eliminating vegetable oils, cooking at home, reducing exposure to junk food ads, and teaching kids how to spot marketing tricks