California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill on Tuesday that would allow food companies to put a non-ultra-processed food (UPF) label on their products.
The law creates the first seal in the U.S. that would appear on products as long as they meet standards for not being ultra-processed, according to California lawmaker Jesse Gabriel, who sponsored the bill.
Modeled after the “USDA Organic” label — which appears on products that meet federal standards set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture — California’s process would be overseen by the California Department of Public Health.
Food manufacturers would apply to accredited certification agents to use a “California Certified” seal on their packaging. Products would have to be recertified every three years.
The law also requires grocery stores in California with gross sales of more than $10 million to prominently display products with the seal in a “designated high-traffic area.”
The state’s definition of UPFs includes food and beverages that contain a “specified substance” — such as colors or stabilizers — and either high amounts of saturated fat, sodium or added sugar or a nonnutritive sweetener.
Governor Gavin Newsom is pictured during a recorded interview with AFP in the Manhattan borough of New York City on September 23, 2026.
Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images
“We should be about healthcare, not sick-care, recognizing that preventing illnesses is far preferable to finding — and affording — treatments,” Newsom said in a statement. “It’s why California is focused on making whole, healthy foods as accessible as possible, why we’re making healthier choices easier. California has never been afraid to challenge the status quo, and we’ll keep innovating, trying new things, and clearing the way for the rest of the country to follow.”
Several consumer groups celebrated the new law, including the nonprofit activist organization Environmental Working Group.
“Today California raised the bar for what we consider healthy food,” Bernadette Del Chiaro, EWG senior vice president for California, said in a statement. “Consumers deserve labels they can trust, and with Gov. Newsom’s signature, families now have a simple way to tell which foods are closer to what comes from a kitchen rather than a factory.”
The law is in line with policies that have been touted by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. For years, Kennedy has criticized the U.S. food industry and the proliferation of ultra-processed foods, blaming them as one reason for the rise of chronic diseases in the U.S.
“Hundreds of these chemicals are now banned in Europe, but they’re ubiquitous in American processed foods,” Kennedy said during a September 2024 roundtable discussion on health led by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc. “We are literally poisoning our children systematically for profit.”
Some research has shown that highly processed foods can be detrimental to health. A 2022 joint study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the University of São Paolo in Brazil found that people who consumed more calories from ultra-processed foods may have an increase in cardiovascular disease.
Earlier this year, Kennedy announced new dietary guidelines that encouraged Americans to limit highly processed foods and reduce refined carbohydrates.
For the first time, the federal Dietary Guidelines explicitly warned Americans against certain highly processed foods and suggested avoiding “packaged, prepared, ready-to-eat, or other foods that are salty or sweet” and “sugar-sweetened beverages, such as soda, fruit drinks, and energy drinks.”
“These new guidelines will revolutionize our nation’s food culture and make America healthier again,” Kennedy said during a press conference at the White House at the time.
