California has found another ingredient to add to your dinner: more government.
asserted
California → find → dinner
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Monday creating a voluntary certification label for non-ultraprocessed foods and requiring warnings for certain high-sugar drinks at chain restaurants.
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Newsom → sign → restaurants
The stated goal is healthier eating.
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goal → state → ?
As a chef, restaurant owner, and father of four, I support that goal; I have been harping about healthy food since I opened my first restaurant in 2012.
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I → support → 2012
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Sign → sign → California
The question, however, is whether Sacramento should have the authority to get into the market of deciding what’s good and bad, especially given its track record.
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what → have → record
, when the government aims to fix a problem, it only makes the problem worse and more expensive.
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problem → aim → problem
You cannot eat a warning label, and you cannot sauté a certification seal.
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you → eat → seal
A family struggling to afford groceries needs more than another symbol telling them which products to buy.
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family → struggle → products
First, let’s be precise about what these laws do.
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laws → let → what
AB 2244 creates a “Non-Ultraprocessed Certified” seal that manufacturers can voluntarily seek for qualifying products through accredited certification agents under California Department of Public Health oversight.
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manufacturers → create → oversight
It is a certification program (run by the government with your tax dollars), rather than a requirement that every food receive a label.
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food → run → label
SB 869 requires chains with at least 20 locations to identify qualifying drinks that meet or exceed the federal daily value for added sugar.
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that → require → sugar
The law calls for a sugar-cube icon inside a black triangle and an explanation, with compliance required by Jan. 1, 2029.
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compliance → call → Jan.
Drive-through menus must display the information directly; restaurants have options for physical or digital disclosure elsewhere.
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restaurants → drive → disclosure
There is nothing unreasonable about wanting people to understand what they are drinking.
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they → be → what
Some beverages are practically dessert served through a straw; calling one “refreshing” doesn’t turn it into spring water.
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calling → serve → water
However, Sacramento should resist confusing the ability to write a regulation with the ability to improve a diet.
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Sacramento → resist → diet
People go out to eat to indulge and choose restaurants based on the ingredients they serve.
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they → go → ingredients
This law will only add costs to an already heavily regulated restaurant industry that is struggling to survive — and it will most likely not change consumers’ sugar intake.
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it → add → intake
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In fact, it may actually increase their sugar intake.
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it → download → intake
Research shows that messages perceived as threatening people’s freedom can provoke resistance and actually have a “boomerang” effect.
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messages → show → effect
Studies of sugary-drink warnings generally find modest reductions in purchasing, but that does not settle whether California’s particular approach will deliver lasting benefits worth its costs.
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approach → find → benefits
In a restaurant, every new requirement becomes somebody’s job.
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requirement → become → restaurant
Someone must review recipes, update information, coordinate menu changes and make sure the business complies.
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business → review → changes
Those tasks consume time and money.
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tasks → consume → time
A franchise owner still has payroll, rent and equipment bills, even when the sign outside carries a nationally recognized name.
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sign → have → name
That does not automatically make this law bad; it just means its costs deserve consideration alongside its promised benefits.
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costs → make → benefits
The certification program raises a related question: Who will find it easiest to participate?
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it → raise → question
Large manufacturers can dedicate staff to applications and packaging.
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manufacturers → dedicate → applications
A small restaurant group may be making the food, answering customers and delivering orders personally.
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group → make → orders
California should ensure that certification is affordable and straightforward enough for those businesses to participate.
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businesses → ensure → ?
Otherwise, we risk building a system in which the companies best equipped to advertise simplicity are the companies with the biggest compliance departments.
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companies → risk → departments
We should also be careful about what consumers infer from a seal.
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consumers → infer → seal
Processing is one feature of food; a certification should communicate exactly what it verifies, without becoming an all-purpose promise that a product belongs (or doesn’t) in unlimited quantities on every dinner table.
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product → communicate → table
Will this label drive people toward other products that are worse for other reasons?
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that → drive → reasons
You could probably fix people’s health just by informing them about real food and making it more affordable.
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it → fix → food
What happened to teaching people what ingredients go into food, and then letting them make their own decisions?
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them → happen → decisions
Do we need Sacramento to tell us what to buy at all times?
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Sacramento → need → times
The more we see people rely on these catch-all government tropes and labels, the less we see people think on their own.
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people → see → own
…and 17 more, not listed.
The Aporia
