California Creates the First ‘Non-Ultraprocessed Certified’ Food Label

California just gave shoppers a new way to spot less-processed food. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2244 on September 28, creating a voluntary “Non-Ultraprocessed Certified” label.

TLDR

• AB 2244 creates a voluntary front-of-package label in California.
• Foods with dyes or non-sugar sweeteners cannot qualify.
• The state health department will accredit third-party certifiers.
• Products must be recertified at least every three years.
• Some critics say the standard ignores processing methods.

What Disqualifies a Product

The label is meant to help consumers identify foods that meet California’s standard for non-ultra-processed food. Products are disqualified if they contain certain additives. Those include dyes, flavor enhancers, non-sugar sweeteners and processing aids used to boost taste, texture or palatability.

Who Runs It

The California Department of Public Health will oversee the system. It will accredit third-party certifiers. Certified products must be recertified at least every three years.

Support and Pushback

The Environmental Working Group co-sponsored the bill and called it a “trailblazing law.” Not everyone agreed. The group Non-UPF Verified urged a veto. It argued the bill “does not include processing methods as part of the certification.”

Why It Matters

The law builds on California’s 2025 Healthy Foods, Healthy Kids Act. That act set the nation’s first legal definition of ultra-processed food and began phasing those foods out of schools. A federal definition from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture is still in development. For brands, the label makes dye removal a marketable claim, not just a compliance task.

Lead image: Gov. Gavin Newsom signs AB 2244 (photo: Office of the Governor of California). Inset: a seal concept circulating online; the state has not released final label art.

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Source: FoodNavigator. Read the report.