Institute of Food Technologists to Tackle Ultra-Processed Food in Oct. 6 Webinar
October 2, 2026 | 2 min to read
California just moved the national debate over ultra-processed foods from policy discussions into the grocery aisle.
On Sep. 29, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2244 into law, creating a voluntary state-backed certification program for foods that qualify as non-ultra-processed under California’s framework. The law puts California at the forefront of an issue federal regulators are still working to define.
That raises a much bigger question:
What happens if states start determining what is and isn’t ultra-processed before the federal government agrees on what the term actually means?
Anna Rosales, RD, Vice President of Science and Policy at the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) tackles this question in her latest Brain Food Blog, which you can read here.
Anna will join IFT Chief Science and Technology Officer, Brendan Niemira, PhD, to discuss the impact of this new legislation and other rapidly evolving food-policy issues in “Food Policy in Focus: A Community Conversation,” which will be held on Tuesday, October 6 from 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. CT.
Free and open to the public, the interactive community conversation will examine the latest developments in food policy and legislation, including GRAS oversight and food chemical reassessment, the pending federal ultra-processed foods definition and the California non-ultra-processed-food label bill, as well as the Office of Management and Budget’s proposed revisions to the regulations governing federal financial assistance and the impact it will have on federally funded research.
Learn more or register here.