Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes of Colton is proposing to ban the use of methylene chloride, which is used in the production of decaf coffee. The chemical is also used as a paint stripper.
Last year EPA proposed to restrict certain uses of it, which raised alarms among pharmaceutical companies.
The bill, Assembly Bill 2066, rides on the coattails of AB 418, which was panned by critics as a Skittles ban. Asm. Buffy Wicks of Oakland eventually removed the most contentious part of that bill to get it across the finish line.
But the Reyes bill has the California League of Food Producers worried that AB 418 may have set a trend for legislative food bans.
California considers another food ban
