California
Some artificial dyes could be banned from California schools
Psychologist provides simple tips to manage ADHD and symptoms
Dr. Ali Mattu explains how efforts like making checklists or being physically active can help manage ADHD.
California public schools could soon be banned from serving certain artificial dyes in food over concerns about developmental harm in children.
Dubbed a “first-in-the-nation” measure, state lawmakers this week passed Assembly Bill 2316 to prohibit six additives that are permitted by federal regulators to make food more colorful. California’s AB 2316, known as the California School Food Safety Act, is now on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.
The bill says state research suggests such synthetic dyes can result in hyperactivity and other behavioral problems. Similar previous research prompted the European Union to restrict food coloring. Nearly all of the products that the California bill would ban in schools require warning labels in E.U. products.
The bill would ban commercial dyes of Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6, in public schools in the nation’s largest state.
“California has a responsibility to protect our students from chemicals that harm children and interfere with their ability to learn,” state Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, a Democrat who authored the bill, said in a statement. He said that he struggled with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, and he is now a parent.
On Saturday, a spokesperson said Newsom’s office didn’t comment on pending legislation. The deadline for Newsom to sign or veto legislation is Sept. 30, the spokesperson said.
The nonprofit Environmental Working Group and the California Medical Association, which represents doctors, supported the bill.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approvals for the dyes banned under AB 2316 date back decades, the environmental nonprofit said. Those approvals were based on old studies not designed to detect behavioral effects in children, the medical association had said in its support of AB 2316.
The Consumer Brands Association, a dye industry representative, opposed the bill because it overrode existing food safety rules, and the group disputed findings about adverse health effects. John Hewlitt, the association’s senior vice president of packaging, sustainability and state affairs, said the bill was “advancing a political agenda.”
“The passage of this bill could cost schools and families money, limit choice and access, and create consumer confusion,” he said in a statement provided to USA TODAY. “The approach taken by California politicians flies in the face of our science and risk-based process and is not the precedent we should be setting when it comes to feeding our families.”
A 2021 state Environmental Protection Agency assessment found American youth diagnosed with ADHD increased in the last 20 years, which prompted the state to look at food dyes. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has similarly tracked increases in ADHD diagnoses in children in recent years.
Focusing on seven food dyes, including those that would be banned under AB 2316, state researchers reviewed prior studies on the effects of these dyes in humans and laboratory animals. Findings indicated they were linked to adverse neurobehavioral outcomes in children, and children varied in sensitivity.
On Friday, an FDA spokesperson told NBC News they had reviewed literature cited in California’s legislation. While saying most children have no “adverse effects” when they eat foods with color additives, the spokesperson reportedly said some evidence suggests certain children may be sensitive.
If signed into law, California’s ban would take effect in schools beginning in 2027.
TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) — For the first time in 14 years, California’s fire hazard severity zones maps have been updated by the state fire marshal.
Based on fire history and conditions of locations, areas across the state rank from Moderate to High and Very High fire risk.
“The hazard maps are being updated to more accurately reflect areas of California that have a higher risk of wildfires, and it’s a good tool for the public to know how prepared to be,” said Savanna Birchfield-Gernt, with CAL FIRE in Tulare County.
“While it is helpful to be prepared, it is helpful to know to see a marker for where you are and see a risk of hazard.”
Action News asked about the biggest change from the old maps to the new ones.
“The addition of moderate and high fire hazards severity zones, and with that is a new requirement as of January 1st 2026, for new development to construct homes to chapter 7-A in the high fire hazard severity zones,” explained Jim McDougald, assistant deputy director for Wildfire planning and risk reduction with CAL FIRE.
In both Kings and Tulare counties, the fire hazard zones that made the list include Avenal, Woodlake, and parts of Porterville.
Plus, several unincorporated areas.
The land spans about 27,000 acres in Tulare County and close to 59,000 in Kings County, which sit between Moderate and High Risk.
“What I will tell people is we always want you to be aware of wildfires, especially when you are living in the foothills of Tulare County, where you will likely see CAL FIRE,” said Birchfield-Gernt.
In Tulare County’s unincorporated communities, nearly 500 acres are considered Very High risk, compared to none in 2011.
“A lot of people are worried about insurance when it comes to the fire hazard severity zones, so insurance companies use a different rating — they use a risk rating, and ways that people can reduce their ratings where they live is by doing things like home hardening and defensible space,” explains Birchfield-Gernt.
Cal Fire says people should work on defensible space year-round.
The first rounds of inspections are currently underway for foothill communities, including Springville, Posey or California Hot Springs, and Three Rivers..
People will have three rounds of defensible space inspections before citations are issued.
Cal Fire says their primary goal is to give people the opportunity to learn more about wildfire readiness.
You can visit this website to find the Fire Hazard Severity Zones.
The latest severity zone recommendations in California can be found here.
For news updates, follow Kassandra Gutierrez on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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It was a plain little under-the-radar cracker, but the quiet demise of Ak-mak has saddened fans far beyond its Central California birthplace.
The crisp sesame cracker, made in the Fresno area for more than 70 years, has disappeared from store shelves and online platforms in recent weeks. The bakery’s website remains live, with no mention of the shutdown, but there has been a low buzz on social media from devotees realizing that Ak-mak is no more.
Reached by the Fresno Bee, Tanny Soojian — of the third of Ak-mak’s four generations of Armenian-American proprietors — reportedly said simply, “I got old and closed it.”
The family moved to California in 1936 and established a bakery specializing in Armenian breads and crackers, the company’s website says. The Ak-mak cracker’s selling point was its simplicity — whole wheat, low fat, made with honey rather than refined sugar. A paean on the foodie website Epicurious describes it as “sturdy” and “nourishing,” and (though exaggerating its longevity) sums up: “That Ak-Mak has remained popular for centuries will only surprise people who haven’t had it.”
In recent years, its Sanger factory, between a used-car lot and a tire store, sent out the yellow-and-blue boxes of crackers to purveyors including Safeway, Raley’s, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, New York’s Gristedes and the cult favorite Southern California grocer Erewhon.
The cracker became an asterisk to a Los Angeles-area homicide case in 2015. Sparkle Soojian, who claimed to be an heiress to the Ak-mak business, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter after a former roommate’s ex-boyfriend died in her Glendale home.
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