Skittles and other candies are common to come across while in a Disney park.
You can frequently find different candies, sweet treats, and colorful icings all around Disneyland and Disney World parks. Disney often partners with the candy brand Mars, which Skittles is part of. In a few stores inside the parks, you can find a whole wall dedicated to the sweet and tangy candies. But now we may be about to see some changes in all of those candies, sweets, and colorful foods in one Disney park.
The governor of the state of California has just signed a bill that will dramatically change how food is manufactured and distributed in the state, and that includes Disneyland Resort. This new bill has been dubbed the ‘Skittles ban’, though it will affect many more foods than just the one candy brand. The bill sets out to protect the people of California from harmful additives that have yet to be banned by the Food and Drug Administration, according to USA Today.
Four additives have now been banned throughout the state of California. These four additives have never been deemed safe for use in foods by the FDA, but they have also never been banned by it either. California will no longer allow foods with brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben, and Red Dye 3 to be manufactured, sold, or distributed within the state. Governor Gavin Newsom has said that this law is “a positive step forward.”
The cause of the ban is not that the foods themselves are bad or unhealthy, but that the four additives in them are. Many countries around the world already ban these four additives and California is saying that the United States is behind in getting rid of these unhealthy products.
The governor has stated that the companies have until 2027 to change their recipes so they no longer include the additives so that they may continue to sell their products in the state.
According to many officials, these additives have several health concerns. For example, Red Dye 3 has been shown to cause cancer in animals, however, there has not been enough research to show that it has the same effect in humans.
This ban is not the first time the FDA has been pressured to remove the dye from foods as there has been a petition by several scientists and Consumer Reports to push for Red Dye 3 to be removed from foods in the country.
The ban on the four additives has been misleadingly called the ‘Skittles ban’ however it is not banning the sale or distribution of Skittles, only the four additives that the state hopes will be removed from more than 12,000 food products. The bill became known as the ‘Skittles ban’ when titanium dioxide, an additive in the fruity candy, was previously on the banned list but it has since been removed from the current bill.
According to CNN, Skittles do contain Red Dye 3, which is on the banned list.
Since the ban, fellow states are looking to follow in California’s footsteps. A similar bill has come forward in New York also working to ban the four additives plus titanium dioxide.
Of course, not everyone is happy about this bill. Many disagree with the health concerns or say the bill will cause confusion around food safety. It is important to remember here that the bill is not banning any food companies or products, only the four additives.
We’re unsure at this time how this will affect Disneyland, but there will probably have to be some changes to the foods we typically see inside the parks if Skittles doesn’t change its recipe. As of now, we’ll have to keep watching for more information. It is a good thing that all food companies have until 2027 to work out their new recipes or plan for removing the four additives. Since California is such a large consumer, we’ll be interested to see how this ban affects the food throughout the country.
We’ll be on the lookout for more Disney news, so be sure to check back to DFB!
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What are your thoughts on this new bill? Let us know in the comments!
Pris says
I’m soooo glad I don’t live in California!!!!!
Elizabeth Pokoly says
good and about time. watch as the company will move the merchandise to other states to sell to off load the items not being purchased in CA. It is really not about the candy it is about the ingredients. Red dye 3 has been talked about for years! shame on those companies that did not just replace it long ago. Glad to hear and hope all the States ban those ingredients.
Colin says
Skittles actually does not contain Red Dye 3. They do contain another controversial ingredient that would have been banned in the original bill, but that one was removed from the bill. So even though Skittles is still unhealthy and smart for all of us to avoid, they don’t need to change anything to continue selling their product in California. I don’t know why CNN thinks Skittles has Red Dye 3, but they’re usually wrong on most things. Many candies removed Red 3 a long time ago, but a few are still holding onto it, such as Brachs candy corn, Sixlets, Pez, Hot Tamales.
Dave G. says
Just a thought, the phrase “…cause cancer in animals…” always makes me wonder how much did they use to get that result? Sometimes they have use a hundred times the normal intake to get that result. And before any agency “bans” it, California seems to go faster than science in their effort to “protect” people. Let’s get more facts first.