California Law Requires ID to Buy Muscle-Building Supplements in January

California will bar retailers from selling weight-loss and muscle-building supplements to anyone under 18 beginning Jan. 1, 2027, and will require them to card any shopper they cannot plainly tell is an adult. The restrictions were created by Assembly Bill 2030, authored by Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 28. The New York Post reported Monday that the law reaches creatine products marketed for building muscle. Any supplement marketed or represented as a way to lose weight or build muscle is covered. A legal analysis of the statute lists what a court can weigh in a close case. Creatine is named, along with green tea extract, raspberry ketone, garcinia cambogia, and green coffee bean extract. Label promises about appetite, metabolism, or strength also count. So does the shelf a store puts the product on. Creatine itself is not banned outright. Lowenthal tied the measure to social media marketing aimed at teenagers. He argued that children are being “pushed to buy untested supplements promising dramatic effects on their bodies,” pointing to what he described as dangerous “looksmaxxing” trends. Supplement trade groups pushed back on how far the bill reaches. The Consumer Healthcare Products Association and the Council for Responsible Nutrition both objected to how far its criteria reach. Steve Mister of the nutrition council said its position was to “identify the actual risk and address it directly,” and the group warned in its veto request that the standard could capture fiber, protein, multivitamins, and general wellness products. The American Herbal Products Association argued that protein, vitamin D, and creatine all touch muscle development or metabolism, meaning products nobody considers diet pills could be swept in on ingredients alone. Newsom has approved other measures narrowing what minors can buy or use in California, including a 2024 law restricting smartphone use in public schools. Dean Riley, a fitness enthusiast in Bakersfield, told Eyewitness News that teenagers are not overdosing on the products. “Ain’t no teenage kids coming to the vitamin store or GNC,” he said. Lucia Clevenger, who owns a supplement shop in the city, said the question comes down to parents. Each violation can cost a retailer $500. The state attorney general can sue over it. So can a county counsel or a city attorney, and any of them can ask a court to order the sales stopped. Online sellers have their own set of rules. Before shipping into California, they must check a buyer’s name, birthdate, and address against government-sourced data, or use a delivery that requires an adult signature. In 2024, the governor barred local governments from requiring photo identification to vote. New York enacted the first such supplement restriction in 2023, and its version took effect in April 2024. The nutrition council has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review that law on First Amendment grounds.