Everyday students leave the cafeteria with a bag of Doritos in hand along with a Gatorade, but soon this won’t be an option. Poway Unified School District has had an extensive variety of foods that have been provided for students from hamburgers to a la carte items like chips. Over the years items have been added and taken away but pastries, cereals for breakfast, and main dishes for lunch have stayed the same for years.. 

   A new law is restricting the use of food dyes in school food starting in 2028. The California School Food Safety Act bans Red Dye No. 40, Yellow Dye No. 5, Yellow Dye No. 6, Blue Dye No. 1, Blue Dye No. 2, and Green Dye No. 3 because the chemicals have been linked to hyperactivity and neurobehavioral problems in some children. 

   As these dyes create unnecessary problems/health issues, California has decided to significantly reduce their use. Although it will not impact the main dishes currently served, a la carte items such as some flavors of Gatorade, Nacho and  Cool Ranch Doritos, and most of the cereals contain the banned dyes..

   The biggest restrictions will be implemented on breakfast items like yogurt, milk, and cereals, “This will result in more savory breakfast offerings, rather than sweet offerings,” Nicole Furtado, the PUSD school dietitian. 

In  some cases Poway High School will have to renegotiate terms with their distributors to comply with the new restrictions, or simply no longer sell any items with the banned dyes.  

   Secondly, another law will be put in place to restrict the amount of sugar allowed in food items, although this will mostly be aimed towards breakfast items. This law will take effect starting in the upcoming 2025 school year.

   The director of the cafeteria at  Poway High School, Richard Herbicek, says the school is very good about maintaining a good menu for kids making sure there are no harmful ingredients. “I do know that our school district is very diligent about looking into ingredients as to what goes in all the food,” Herbicek said.

The new law will not only affect the amount of sugar in food, but also the sodium, eventually taking into account the amount of sugar in relation to the calorie intake of students.

   The law requires that by 2025, schools meet the new USDA nutrition guidelines to cut the sodium in their foods as well as any high-sugar foods, such as yogurt and cereal. In the following two years, sodium is to be reduced again, and sugar must compose less than 10% of students’ calories each week.