California will bar sales of muscle-building supplements like creatine to minors starting Jan. 1

Starting Jan. 1, stores in California can’t sell supplements marketed for weight loss or muscle building to anyone under 18 unless they have a prescription. The ban includes many creatine products.

Assembly Bill 2030, by Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 28. It also covers over-the-counter diet pills. The law applies only to minors, so adults can keep buying these products, though they may be asked for ID.

What changes Jan. 1

• In stores: Sellers can’t sell or give away covered products to anyone under 18. Stores must ask for valid ID when they can’t tell a buyer’s age, and they may keep the products behind the counter or locked up.
• Online: Websites and other sellers that ship to California must check a buyer’s name, birth date and address against an age-verification database, or ship the order so that an adult has to sign for it and show photo ID.
• Prescriptions: Minors with a prescription for a covered product are exempt.
• Penalties: Sellers face civil fines of up to $500 per violation. The state attorney general, a county counsel or a city attorney can sue, and a court can order a seller to stop. The law sets no penalty for buyers.

Is creatine covered?

The law doesn’t ban specific products by name. It covers any supplement “labeled, marketed, or otherwise represented” for weight loss or building muscle, and lists factors a court can weigh in deciding whether a product counts.

Creatine is named as one of those factors, along with steroids, green tea extract, raspberry ketone, garcinia cambogia and green coffee bean extract. Others include whether a label says a product will help “maintain or increase muscle or strength,” and whether a store displays it with other muscle-building or weight-loss products.

Because most creatine is advertised for strength or muscle, most creatine products are likely to be covered. Protein powder isn’t exempt, and whether a given product is covered depends on how it’s labeled and sold.

Why lawmakers passed it

Lowenthal said on Facebook that the law is needed because these supplements have been linked to higher rates of eating disorders, body dysmorphia and depressive symptoms in teens, the Deseret News reported. The National Eating Disorders Association supported it.

Critics quoted by the Deseret News, including a dietitian and a gym owner, said creatine is well studied and doesn’t belong in the same category as diet pills. The dietitian also pointed out that teens can still buy energy drinks and many pre-workout products without ID.

How Merced County’s lawmakers voted

The bill passed the Assembly 61-6 and the Senate 31-2 in August, according to the Legislature’s vote records. Among the state lawmakers who represent parts of Merced County:

• Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria, D-Fresno, voted yes on both Assembly floor votes.
• Assemblymember Juan Alanis, R-Modesto, didn’t vote when the Assembly first passed the bill in May, and voted yes on the final Assembly vote in August.
• Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Merced, voted yes.
• Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil, R-Jackson, voted no.

New York passed a similar ban for minors that took effect in 2024. No federal law sets a minimum age to buy creatine.

Sources: Assembly Bill 2030, as chaptered and its vote history, California Legislature. Deseret News, Nov. 9, 2026.