California's Real Food, Healthy Kids Act (AB 1264): what it means for sweeteners

This page summarizes what the law says, neutrally and with the primary source linked. It is a regulatory-classification reference, not health advice or a position on any sweetener.

What the law is

Assembly Bill 1264, the Real Food, Healthy Kids Act, was signed into California law on October 8, 2025 (Chapter 467, Statutes of 2025). It passed with broad bipartisan support and is widely described as establishing the first statutory definition of "ultraprocessed food" in the United States. Its scope is school nutrition: it governs which foods may be sold or served to students in kindergarten through grade 12, and directs state agencies to identify the categories to be phased out.

How a food becomes "ultraprocessed" under AB 1264

The definition is functional rather than a simple banned-ingredient list. In broad terms, a food or beverage is treated as ultraprocessed when it contains a qualifying processing substance (for example, certain emulsifiers, stabilizers, colors, flavor enhancers, or sweeteners) and either is high in saturated fat, sodium, or added sugar, or contains a nonnutritive sweetener or one of the substances the Act enumerates. The specific subset to be removed from schools — the "ultraprocessed foods of concern" and "restricted school foods" — is to be defined by the California Department of Public Health through regulation by 2028.

The sweetener substances the Act names

Section 104661 lists these sweetener substances by name. Each links to its Zero Sugar Facts page:

• Sugar alcohols: D-sorbitol, erythritol, isomalt, maltitol, xylitol, plus lactitol and hydrogenated starch hydrolysates.
• High-intensity, named individually: sucralose; steviol glycosides (stevia); Luo Han fruit concentrate (monk fruit); and thaumatin.
• Nonnutritive sweeteners as a class (per the FDA definition the Act references) — which covers aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame potassium, and neotame.

A point worth noting plainly: stevia and monk fruit — often marketed as the "natural" choices — are named in the statute alongside the synthetic high-intensity sweeteners.

Where allulose sits

Allulose is not among the substances the Act enumerates, and it is not a nonnutritive sweetener — it is a rare sugar. That is a factual distinction in how the statute is written, not a health endorsement. For how allulose compares with each of the listed sweeteners on calories, glycemic index, baking behavior, and labeling, see the Allulose vs. every other sweetener benchmark.

The timeline

• Dec 31, 2027Six synthetic dyes (Blue 1 and 2, Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5 and 6) barred from school foods.
• June 1, 2028California Department of Public Health to adopt regulations defining "ultraprocessed foods of concern" and "restricted school foods."
• July 1, 2029Schools begin phasing out restricted school foods and ultraprocessed foods of concern.
• July 1, 2032Vendors may no longer offer those foods to schools.
• July 1, 2035Full prohibition in reimbursable school meals and competitive foods.

Part of a broader state pattern

California is not acting alone. In June 2025, Louisiana enacted Act 463 (Senate Bill 14), which takes a different route: it requires foods containing any of about 44 listed ingredients — including the high-intensity sweeteners aspartame, sucralose, and acesulfame potassium — to carry an on-package QR-code disclosure beginning in 2028, and separately prohibits 15 of those ingredients (those three sweeteners among them) in state-funded school meals from the 2028–29 school year. The same week, Texas enacted SB 25, requiring a warning label on foods containing any of 44 ingredients, though its list centers on dyes and preservatives rather than the sweeteners. West Virginia and Virginia have passed related measures focused on synthetic dyes.

None of these laws bans the sweeteners from sale — they remain FDA-approved; the laws require disclosure or restrict use in schools. For context on why states are acting, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that Americans get about 55% of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods, rising to 61.9% among those aged 1 to 18.