Beer Marketer's Insights - Calif's Anti-UPF Legislation Likely to Ripple Out to Other States, Feds, Venable's Claudia Lewis Predicts; Urgers Suppliers to Ask Tuff Questions on Vaguely Defined Issue; Sucralose, Monk Fruit Banned

Recent move by Calif to phase out ultraprocessed food from state's schools in 2029 is being viewed by regulation experts as harbinger of where other states and the federal gov't may decide to go in coming years. As Venable LLC partner Claudia Lewis noted, it presages a battle over how to write these regs given definition of UPF that's currently so vague as to be "meaningless," as she told BBI in interview this week. Attention, bev marketers: the prohibited ingredients include sweetening go-to's like erythritol, sucralose and monk fruit. "There's always a trade-off," she said about California's AB 1864, which begins phaseout in 2029 and bans them completely as of 2032, with respect to nutritional legislation. Calling it "absolutely" the tip of the spear of the anti-UPF state legislative movement while the FDA continues to examine issue, Lewis is advising her supplier clients to get far ahead of the game. Of course, UPF has long been a bugaboo of Health & Human Services chief RFK Jr, meaning this isn't issue that's likely to get lost in shuffle of other regulatory priorities.The law currently defines UPFs if they meet two criteria. Any products may be considered UPFs if they contain functional ingredients including "coloring materials and related adjuncts; emulsifiers and emulsifier salts; flavoring agents and adjuvants; flavor enhancers and nonnutritive sweeteners; propellants, aerating agents, and gases; stabilizers and thickeners; and surface-active agents." Provided the product has one of these functional ingredients, it will be considered a UPF if it (a) contains 10% or greater total energy from saturated fat; has a ratio of milligrams to sodium to calories that is equal to or greater than 1:1, or has 10% or greater of total energy from added sugar, or (b) contains any of these nonnutritive sweeteners: D-sorbitol, erythritol, hydrogenated starch hydrolysates, sucralose, isomalt, lactitol, Luo Han fruit concentrate, maltitol, steviol glycosides, thaumatin or xylitol. (Luo Han is more commonly called monk fruit.)The law excludes alcoholic beverages, Class 1 milk, infant formula, medical foods, minimally processed products such as cut, canned, dried or pasteurized foods, natural color additives permitted under 21 CFR Part 73 (deemed either "generally safe" or allowed with restrictions), raw agricultural commodities, salt and other seasonings, USDA commodity foods and locally grown or raised unprocessed products."There's a laundry list of products you're producing. You need to know how you're going to reformulate," Lewis said. At same time, she's urging cos to join or work with trade associations to be "lobbying in advance of themes" for nuance and clarity in enforcement: "Make your voices heard," especially because, at the moment, "the term ultra-processed foods . . . is meaningless" in its vagueness. "Make sure you bring the science and data to address this," she suggests, as "there will be exemptions," which clients should be "working really hard" to earn.None of which is arguing against the fundamental concept of the legislation, but it "should be predicated on a concern for a real solution," she said. Claudia suggested a food pyramid-like chart, with options ranging from "okay all the time" to "to be avoided," with several intermediate options ("once a week") in between. "Very few of us are going to be able to avoid all prepared foods, so what information do I need to make the best choice? Ideally, we'd be able to get rid of ultraprocessed foods entirely, but 'ideally' doesn't always meet 'practicality.'" The distinctions are especially important to draw because "we're going to see states follow California's lead," with Illinois and New York most likely to do so, even if "they have their own definitions. There's always a domino effect." She said color additive bans show how this type of legislation can spread, which "I could expect." But with some sort of ban coming, her main piece of advice is to work on lobbying and compliance as early as possible, as creating new taste and smell profiles to match those of existing products "is not an overnight thing."

Calif's Anti-UPF Legislation Likely to Ripple Out to Other States, Feds, Venable's Claudia Lewis Predicts; Urgers Suppliers to Ask Tuff Questions on Vaguely Defined Issue; Sucralose, Monk Fruit Banned

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