Skittles removes titanium dioxide from ingredients list amid health concerns
Skittles will no longer be made with titanium dioxide, a color additive, according to multiple media reports.
Mars Wrigley, the parent company of Skittles, confirmed to BBC that it stopped using the color additive for Skittles sold in the country last year.
KTLA reached out to Mars Wrigley for a statement but didn't hear back in time for publication.
The move comes after years of criticism about the presence of titanium dioxide in the candy. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s recent 'Make America Healthy Again' report also pointed out the harms of including the additive in foods.
Gov. Gavin Newsom's press office welcomed the news in a post on X, pointing out that the Golden State was the first to ban certain additives used in processed food sold in the state.
Assembly Bill 418 prohibits the manufacture and sale of any products that contain Red Dye No. 3, potassium bromate, brominated vegetable oil, or propyl paraben. Those chemicals have already been outlawed in 27 nations in the European Union, according to the bill's author, Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino).
The bill previously sought to include language also to prohibit the use of titanium dioxide, but that chemical was removed from the banned additive list in its latest revision.
In 2016, Mars announced that it would remove 'all artificial colors' from its food products, citing evolving consumer preferences.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Trump is on a collision course with millions of Americans. He's not backing down.
After the No Kings protests that saw millions speak out against the Trump administration's immigration policies, the White House is ramping up efforts to deport undocumented immigrants. The White House is doubling down on President Trump's signature campaign promise and escalating efforts to deport undocumented immigrants, targeting Democrat-run cities and heightening tensions with powerful liberal governors from California to New York. The pressure-cooker campaign comes after the massive "No Kings" protests last weekend that drew millions of Americans out to the streets to oppose Trump's administration, which has made immigration enforcement a top priority. The protests included about 5 million people nationally, according to organizers, and many attendees specifically cited concerns about immigration enforcement. A week before, fierce protests in Los Angeles sparked by aggressive detentions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents led to clashes, tear gassing, scattered looting and multiple vehicles being set on fire. The vast majority of attendees were peaceful, however. To quell the protests and protect ICE agents in California, Trump called up thousands of National Guard troops over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom − referred to by Trump as "Newscum" − and has told federal agents they have his unconditional support to continue aggressive enforcement. Trump has also invoked military powers usually reserved for wartime, declaring that Biden-era immigration policies facilitated an invasion. And the president is pushing to dramatically expand detention centers and deportation flights while finishing the U.S.-Mexico border wall. Immigrant-rights advocates have reported harsher enforcement in rural farming communities and big cities alike, and note that federal statistics show more than 40% of ICE detainees have no criminal record. Trump and administration officials say they are targeting violent criminals and gang members, though Americans are also seeing vineyard workers, car-wash attendants and building contractors snatched up, in many cases by masked men and women refusing to identify themselves, ratcheting up tensions. Polls show a majority of voters support the president's approach: 51% of Americans approve of his handling of border security and immigration, although only 45% of voters approve of his overall job as president, according to the NBC News Decision Desk Poll, conducted with SurveyMonkey. "The American people want our cities, schools and communities to be SAFE and FREE from illegal alien crime, conflict, and chaos," Trump said in a social media post. "That's why I have directed my entire administration to put every resource possible behind this effort and reverse the tide of mass destruction migration that has turned once idyllic towns into scenes of third world dystopia." While border crossings have dropped dramatically, videos of masked federal agents chasing people across fields or grabbing them off city streets have horrified many Americans, and liberal leaders across the country say construction sites, farms and some entire neighborhoods are falling silent as undocumented workers stay home to avoid detention. Some critics accused Trump of causing chaos with ICE raids, then using the community response to justify even harsher measures. On June 19, federal immigration agents were briefly blocked at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles by protesters trying to stop detentions. Trump remains undeterred and is pushing Congress to pass a funding measure that would allow him to hire 10,000 new ICE agents, 5,000 more customs officers, and 3,000 additional Border Patrol agents. Resistance to Trump immigration enforcement spreading Across the country, the impacts of Trump's aggressive policies are adding up: coffee shops are sharing tips on how to protect workers, advocates are tracking and reporting ongoing ICE raids to warn at-risk communities, and other groups are adopting resistance tactics that include surrounding ICE agents. In California, officials are even boosting food-bank funding to help people afraid to go grocery shopping as waves of anxiety sweep through immigrant communities. While Trump officials are targeting people living illegally in the United States, the detentions are also affecting the estimated 4.7 million households that have both legal and undocumented members, according to the nonprofit Center for Migration Studies. "People are living in fear," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said June 17 after ICE agents arrested New York City Comptroller Brad Lander as he was escorting a defendant from immigration court. ICE officials claimed Lander assaulted an agent, although video shows Lander appeared instead to have been manhandled by masked men as he demanded to see an arrest warrant. ICE agents have increasingly been detaining people going to court for scheduled immigration hearings, and are using a new Trump directive to detain people who would otherwise be protected from deportation. White House officials have suggested that other elected officials opposing Trump's immigration policies could also be arrested, and several members of Congress have recently been briefly detained or "manhandled" by federal agents, including California Sen. Alex Padilla, a Democrat. Immigrant rights experts worry what comes next Some immigration experts say Trump's approach reflects his administration's efforts to find ways to detain and deport people as quickly as possible, often at the cost of ignoring due process. "They're trying everything to see what they can get away with," said Prof. Michael Kagan, an immigration attorney and director of the immigration clinic at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. "They are being far more provocative with raids in the community and also explicitly targeting Democrats and Democratic politicians." Kagan said while many Trump voters backed him over his immigration enforcement plans, he believes a growing number of his supporters are concerned that enforcement has not primarily targeted violent criminals and gang members as promised. "It definitely seems that while there's a core of his supporters who love this, the majority of the public does not," Kagan said. Advocates decry broken trust with police Retired California police officer Diane Goldstein said she's been "appalled" to see the tactics ICE agents have been using against immigrant communities and some American citizens. Goldstein was a police lieutenant in the Los Angeles area and now is executive director of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership, a nonprofit that works with communities to help reform policing. Goldstein said the way ICE is acting risks erasing decades of hard-won bonds of trust between law enforcement and communities across the country, from the immigrants who are growing reluctant to call 911 for help to the ordinary Americans watching masked agents grab people without producing any identification or warrant. The New York City Bar Association on June 20 said letting agents obscure their identities with masks and other measures helps them evade accountability. "They are setting local law enforcement back on their heels after we have fought for years to engage with people," said Goldstein. "They're not policing in a constitutionally protected manner. We are disappearing people. We are even arresting U.S. citizens and disappearing them, and that is not what we do." She added: "We can't serve people unless they trust us. Having an angry community doesn't benefit either the community or our police officers. People think it's not going to impact them until it does." In a statement, the ACLU said Trump will continue to escalate his efforts unless reined in by the courts, Congress and the American public. "We have never experienced a moment like this in our lifetimes, when our troops are being turned against our communities, acting in the service of a military police state," the ACLU said. "These attacks are transparently about consolidating power, bringing critics to heel, and eliminating the space to fight back."
Yahoo
2 hours ago
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Olympic president Kirsty Coventry starts work with strong IOC and challenges for Los Angeles Games
FILE - IOC President Thomas Bach, right, greets Kirsty Coventry after she was announced as the new IOC President at the International Olympic Committee 144th session in Costa Navarino, western Greece, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File) FILE - President Donald Trump talks with California Gov. Gavin Newsom after arriving on Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File) FILE -Kirsty Coventry, of Zimbabwe, kisses her gold medal after winning the 200-meter backstroke at the Olympic Aquatic Centre during the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Aug. 20, 2004. (AP Photo/Mark Baker), File) FILE -Kirsty Coventry reacts after she was announced as the new IOC President at the International Olympic Committee 144th session in Costa Navarino, western Greece, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis), File) FILE -Kirsty Coventry reacts after she was announced as the new IOC President at the International Olympic Committee 144th session in Costa Navarino, western Greece, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis), File) FILE - IOC President Thomas Bach, right, greets Kirsty Coventry after she was announced as the new IOC President at the International Olympic Committee 144th session in Costa Navarino, western Greece, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File) FILE - President Donald Trump talks with California Gov. Gavin Newsom after arriving on Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File) FILE -Kirsty Coventry, of Zimbabwe, kisses her gold medal after winning the 200-meter backstroke at the Olympic Aquatic Centre during the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Aug. 20, 2004. (AP Photo/Mark Baker), File) FILE -Kirsty Coventry reacts after she was announced as the new IOC President at the International Olympic Committee 144th session in Costa Navarino, western Greece, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis), File) GENEVA (AP) — The world Kirsty Coventry walks into Monday as the International Olympic Committee's first female and first African president is already very different to the one she was elected in three months ago. Take Los Angeles, host of the next Summer Games that is the public face and financial foundation of most Olympic sports. Advertisement The city described last week as a 'trash heap' by U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing to welcome teams from more than 200 nations in July 2028. Most of the 11,000 athletes and thousands more coaches and officials who will take part in the LA Olympics will have seen images of military being deployed against the wishes of city and state leaders. 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Risks and challenges ahead are clear to see. New leadership style For the two-time Olympic champion swimmer's first full day as president Tuesday she has invited the 109-strong IOC membership to closed-doors meetings about its future under the banner 'Pause and Reflect.' Advertisement 'The way in which I like to lead is with collaboration,' said Coventry, who was sports minister in Zimbabwe for the past seven years, told reporters Thursday. Many, if not most, members want more say in how the IOC makes decisions after nearly 12 years of Bach's tight executive control. It was a theme in manifestos by the other election candidates, and the runner-up in March, IOC vice president Juan Antonio Samaranch, will lead one of the sessions. 'I like people to say: 'Yes, I had a say and this was the direction that we went,'' Coventry said. ' In an in-house IOC interview, Coventry also described how she wanted to be perceived: 'She never changed. Always humble, always approachable.' Advertisement That could mean more member input, if not an open and contested vote, to decide the 2036 Olympics host. The 2036 decision Coventry's win was widely seen as positive for the ambitions of India, and its richest family, to host the Summer Games that will follow Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032. Nita Ambani, the philanthropist wife of industrialist Mukesh Ambani, has been an IOC member since 2016 and helped promote India's Olympic bid in Paris last year. She and Coventry are seen as being close, and the 2036 hosting award is among the biggest decisions pending. 'It is an open question,' Coventry told reporters Thursday. 'For me as a president I need to be able to remain neutral.' Advertisement Qatar is bidding for the Summer Games for a fourth time and Saudi Arabia also is interested. A regional Middle East bid could be a political and logistical solution. 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Advertisement The sponsor slate is down to 11 after all three Japanese sponsors and US tech firm Intel did not renew, though a major new backer from India is all-but promised. Total revenue was $7.7 billion for 2021-24, including $3.25 billion of broadcasting revenue in 2024. It helps fund the Olympic Channel media operation in Madrid and about 700 staff in Lausanne. Salary and staff costs topped $250 million last year. Though the future broadcasting landscape is hard to predict, the IOC has said $7.4 billion already is secured through 2028, and $4 billion for the 2033-36 commercial cycle. That sum was topped up in March with a foundational $3 billion deal. NBC renewed for two more Olympics through the 2034 Salt Lake City Winter Games and the 2036 Summer Games that look destined for Asia. Advertisement The IOC also has a 12-year deal with Saudi Arabia through 2036 to host a video gaming Esports Olympics, though the launch is delayed until at least 2027. ___ AP Olympics:
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Newsom's podcast sidekick: a single-use plastic water bottle
Johnny had Ed. Conan had Andy. And Gov. Gavin Newsom? A single-use plastic water bottle. In most of the YouTube video recordings of Newsom's new podcast, "This is Gavin Newsom," a single-use plastic water bottle lurks on a table nearby. Sometimes, it is accompanied by a single-use coffee cup. Other times, it stands alone. Typically, such product placement would raise nary an eyebrow. But in recent weeks, environmentalists, waste advocates, lawmakers and others have been battling with the governor and his administration over a landmark single-use plastic law that Newsom signed in 2022, but which he has since worked to defang — reducing the number of packaged single-use products the law was designed to target and potentially opening the door for polluting forms of recycling. Anti-plastic advocates say it's an abrupt and disappointing pivot from the governor, who in June 2022, decried plastic pollution and the plague of single-use plastic on the environment. "It's like that whole French Laundry thing all over again," said one anti-plastic advocate, who didn't want to be identified for fear of angering the governor. Newsom was infamously caught dining without a mask at the wine country restaurant during the COVID-19 lockdown. Newsom's efforts to scale back SB 54, the state's single-use plastic recycling law, has dismayed environmentalists who have long considered Newsom one of their staunchest allies. 'Our kids deserve a future free of plastic waste and all its dangerous impacts ... No more," Newsom said in 2022, when he signed SB 54. "California won't tolerate plastic waste that's filling our waterways and making it harder to breathe. We're holding polluters responsible and cutting plastics at the source.' Asked about the presence of the plastic water bottle, Daniel Villaseñor, the governor's deputy director of communications, had this response: "Are you really writing a story this baseless or should we highlight this video for your editor?" Villaseñor said via email, attaching a video clip showing this reporter seated near a plastic water bottle at last year's Los Angeles Times' Climate Summit. (The bottles were placed near chairs for all the panelists; this particular one was never touched.) More than a half-dozen environmentalists and waste advocates asked to comment for this story declined to speak on the record, citing concerns including possible retribution from the governor's office and appearing to look like scolds as negotiations over implementing SB 54 continue. Dianna Cohen, the co-founder and chief executive of Plastic Pollution Coalition, said that while she wouldn't comment on the governor and his plastic sidekick, she noted that plastic pollution is an "urgent global crisis" that requires strong policies and regulations. "Individuals — especially those in the public eye — can help shift culture by modeling these solutions. We must all work to embrace the values we want to see and co-create a healthier world," she said in a statement. On Thursday, Newsom dropped a new episode of "This is Gavin Newsom" with independent journalist Aaron Parnas. In the video, there wasn't a plastic bottle in sight. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
