AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 19, 2025

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

97

Introduced by Senator Weber Pierson

(Coauthor: Senator Rubio)

February 21, 2025

An act to amend Section 114379.10 of, and to add Sections 114379.35 and 114379.36 to, the Health and Safety Code, relating to children’s health.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: yes   Local program: yes

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law, the California Retail Food Code, establishes uniform health and sanitation standards for, and provides for regulation by the State Department of Public Health of, retail food facilities, as defined, and requires local enforcement agencies to enforce these provisions. Existing law requires a restaurant that sells a children’s meal that includes a beverage to make the default beverage water, sparkling water, or flavored water, as specified, or unflavored milk or a nondairy milk alternative, as specified. A violation of the code’s provisions related to children’s meals is an infraction.

This bill would require a chain restaurant, as defined, that sells a children’s meal to offer at least one children’s meal that meets specified minimum nutrition standards, including, among others, that the meal not contain more than 550 calories and that the meal include at least 2 servings of specified types and quantities of food. The bill would also require the chain restaurant to include an icon or symbol on the menu to identify the children’s meal that meets those requirements. The bill would require a chain restaurant that sells a children’s meal, on or before July 1, 2026, to include information to its employees on how to comply with those requirements.

By creating new crimes, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 114379.10 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

114379.10.

For purposes of this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings:

(a) “Chain restaurant” means a restaurant or similar retail food establishment that is part of a chain with 20 or more locations doing business under the same name and offering for sale substantially the same menu items, regardless of the type of ownership of the locations.

(b) “Children’s meal” means a combination of food items and a beverage, or a single food item and a beverage, sold together at a single price, primarily intended for consumption by a child.

(c) “Default beverage” means the beverage automatically included or offered as part of a children’s meal, absent a specific request by the purchaser of the children’s meal for an alternative beverage.

(d) “Restaurant” means a retail food establishment that prepares, serves, and vends food directly to the consumer.

SEC. 2.

Section 114379.35 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

114379.35.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that the nutrition standards in this section are informed by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the National Restaurant Association’s 2021 Kids LiveWell 2.0 nutrition standards for children’s meals.

(b) A chain restaurant that sells a children’s meal shall offer at least one children’s meal that meets the following minimum nutrition standards:

(1) A children’s meal required to be offered by this section shall not contain more than any of the following:

(A) Five hundred fifty calories.

(B) Seven hundred milligrams of sodium.

(C) Ten percent of calories from saturated fat.

(D) Fifteen grams of added sugar.

(E) Zero grams of trans fat.

(2) A children’s meal required to be offered by this section shall include at least two of the following servings:

(A) A serving of one-half of a cup or more of fruit. For the purposes of this subparagraph, 100 percent fruit juice shall be considered a serving of fruit.

(B) A serving of one-half of a cup or more of vegetables.

(C) A serving of one-half of a cup or more nonfat or low-fat dairy.

(D) A serving of meat or a meat alternative equal to at least one of the following:

(i) One ounce of meat, poultry, or seafood.

(ii) One egg.

(iii) One-fourth of a cup of soy products or pulses, including beans, peas, or lentils.

(iv) Two tablespoons of nut butter.

(v) One ounce of nuts and seeds.

(E) A serving of eight of more grams of whole grains that meets at least one of the following conditions:

(i) The serving contains 50 percent or more of whole grain ingredients.

(ii) The first ingredient in the serving’s ingredient list, in descending order of predominance, is whole grains.

(c) A chain restaurant that sells children’s meals shall include an icon or symbol on the menu to identify the children’s meal that meets the requirements of this section. The icon or symbol and accompanying text shall be displayed prominently, clearly, and conspicuously next to or directly under the name of the healthy children’s meal, and at a height no smaller than the largest letter in the name of the item.

SEC. 3.

Section 114379.36 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

114379.36.

On or before July 1, 2026, a chain restaurant that sells a children’s meal shall include information on how to comply with the requirements of Section 114379.35 during an employee’s ongoing training program and a new employee’s training process.

SEC. 4.

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.