Bill Text: NY S06408 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Requires chain restaurants to display an added sugars warning next to or directly under the name of each food item with high added sugars content wherever such food item is listed on a menu, menu board, or food tag, and by any self-serve dispensing point at which such food item is dispensed.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-06-07 - COMMITTED TO RULES [S06408 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S06408-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          6408

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                     April 18, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  RIVERA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Health

        AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation  to  requiring  chain
          restaurants  to  label  menu  items  that have a high content of added
          sugars

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Legislative  findings. The legislature hereby finds added
     2  sugars include sugars that are added to foods and beverages during proc-
     3  essing. They include foods packaged as sweeteners, syrups and honey, and
     4  sugars from concentrated fruit or vegetable juices. They do not  include
     5  naturally  occurring  sugars that are found in milk, fruits, and vegeta-
     6  bles. The daily value for added sugars established by the  federal  Food
     7  and  Drug  Administration  is  50 grams per day based on a 2,000-calorie
     8  daily diet, equivalent to approximately  12  teaspoons.  Healthy  eating
     9  patterns  that  are relatively lower in added sugars, less than 50 grams
    10  per day, are associated with a reduced risk of  cardiovascular  disease,
    11  type  2  diabetes, and certain types of cancers. Unfortunately, American
    12  adults consume an average of 17 teaspoons of added sugars per day, about
    13  40 percent more than currently recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for
    14  Americans.
    15    The leading source of added sugars in the  American  diet,  accounting
    16  for  24  percent  of our intake, is sugar-sweetened beverages-like soda,
    17  fruit drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks, flavored milk, and sweetened
    18  coffee. These are followed closely by desserts and sweet  snacks,  which
    19  account  for  19  percent  of  our  added  sugars  intake. Sugary drinks
    20  contribute to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, in
    21  part by leading to weight gain, and are  linked  to  a  higher  risk  of
    22  dental  cavities. Regularly consuming sugary drinks, seven or more serv-
    23  ings per week, is associated with a statistically significant 29 percent
    24  increase in risk of  dying  from  cardiovascular  disease,  compared  to

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD10483-02-3
        S. 6408                             2

     1  consuming one serving per week or less. Consuming one or more 12-oz cans
     2  of  soda  per  day  significantly increases the risk of dying from heart
     3  disease.
     4    Healthy  eating  patterns  that are low in added sugars are associated
     5  with a reduced risk of cardiovascular  disease,  type  2  diabetes,  and
     6  certain  types of cancers. Warning icons are an effective tool to reduce
     7  added sugars consumption. Research from randomized controlled trials has
     8  shown that warnings on sugary drinks  can  significantly  reduce  sugary
     9  drink  purchases.  Sugary drink consumption dropped by nearly 25 percent
    10  in the 18 months after the country of  Chile  adopted  "high  in  sugar"
    11  nutrient  warnings  on  food  and  drink  packaging nationwide. This act
    12  implements added sugar warnings on menu items at chain restaurants.
    13    § 2. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 1357  to
    14  read as follows:
    15    §  1357.  Added sugar safety warnings for chain restaurants. 1.  Defi-
    16  nitions. For purposes of this section the following terms shall have the
    17  following meanings:
    18    a. "Chain menu developer" means a person that owns  and  licenses  the
    19  brand  name  under which the covered establishment does business, or any
    20  other person responsible for determining the formula or recipe for items
    21  displayed on the menu of a covered establishment.
    22    b. "Covered establishment" means a retail  establishment  that  offers
    23  food for sale that is not usually eaten on the premises, or a restaurant
    24  that  is  part of a chain with fifteen or more locations nationally that
    25  are doing business under the same name, regardless of the type of owner-
    26  ship of the locations, and offering for sale substantially similar  food
    27  items.
    28    c. "Food tag" means a written or printed description of food or bever-
    29  ages  and  their price, placed in the vicinity of a sample or self-serve
    30  item, including free-standing tags and tags attached to the shelf.
    31    d. "Discrete serving" means the separated or easily separable  uniform
    32  portion  or  portions of a food item comprising a reasonable estimate of
    33  one person's share of the food item. For example,  a  pizza  with  eight
    34  slices  that  is  reasonably  estimated to serve two people contains two
    35  discrete servings. Food items  without  separated  or  easily  separable
    36  uniform portions do not contain discrete servings.
    37    e.  "High  added  sugars  content" means the item contains one hundred
    38  percent or more of the daily value for added sugars, as  established  by
    39  the federal food and drug administration.
    40    f.  "Menu"  means  the primary writing of a covered establishment from
    41  which a customer makes an order selection, including but not limited to,
    42  breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus; dessert menus; beverage menus; chil-
    43  dren's menus; other specialty menus; electronic menus; and menus on  the
    44  internet.
    45    g.  "Menu board" means a menu posted inside a covered establishment as
    46  well as a menu posted  outside  a  covered  establishment,  including  a
    47  drive-through menu.
    48    h.  "Food  item"  means  a food or beverage item offered for sale by a
    49  covered establishment that is listed on a menu, menu board, or food tag,
    50  including a variable food or  beverage  item  that  comes  in  different
    51  flavors, varieties, or combinations and is listed as a single item. Food
    52  item  excludes  temporary  food  or  beverage items listed for less than
    53  sixty days per calendar year.
    54    i. "Point of purchase" means a place where a customer may  order  food
    55  within a covered establishment.
        S. 6408                             3

     1    j.  "Self-serve dispensing point" means a location at which a customer
     2  may access food or beverages without the assistance of a  staff  member,
     3  including self-serve fountain beverage machines.
     4    2.  Added  sugars warning. a. A covered establishment shall display an
     5  added sugars warning next to or directly under the  name  of  each  food
     6  item with high added sugars content wherever such food item is listed on
     7  a  menu, menu board, or food tag, and by any self-serve dispensing point
     8  at which such food item is dispensed. This requirement  applies  to  any
     9  food  item for which certain variations or combinations do not have high
    10  added sugars content, if any variation or  combination  described  under
    11  the same listing does have high added sugars content.
    12    b.  A  food  item  that  consists  of  more  than one discrete serving
    13  requires an added sugars warning only if each  discrete  serving  has  a
    14  high added sugars content.
    15    c.    No later than one year after the department issues the rules and
    16  regulations required pursuant to paragraph  d  of  this  subdivision,  a
    17  covered  establishment is required to display at least one clearly visi-
    18  ble warning on a menu, menu board, food tag, or by a self-serve dispens-
    19  ing point pursuant to paragraph a of this subdivision, and shall make  a
    20  factual  warning  statement  about high added sugars intake prominently,
    21  clearly, and conspicuously visible at the point of purchase.
    22    d. No later than one year after the effective date  of  this  section,
    23  the  department  shall  promulgate  rules  and regulations designating a
    24  warning and factual warning statement.
    25    3. Reporting requirement. Once every ninety  days,  every  chain  menu
    26  developer  shall  report to the department the amount of added sugars in
    27  each food item offered for sale in a covered  establishment,  or  report
    28  that  no  changes  to the menu information have been made since the last
    29  report.
    30    4. Report. No later than six years after the effective  date  of  this
    31  section,  the  department shall issue a report reviewing evidence of the
    32  impact of this section on food item reformulation and consumer  behavior
    33  and  recommend  additional  nutrients that should be considered for menu
    34  warnings.
    35    5. Violations. Any chain restaurant that violates  the  provisions  of
    36  this  section  shall  be subject to a civil penalty of not more than one
    37  hundred dollars for a first offense and two hundred  fifty  dollars  for
    38  each subsequent offense.
    39    § 3. Severability. If any provision of this act, or any application of
    40  any  provision  of  this act, is held to be invalid, or to violate or be
    41  inconsistent with any federal law or regulation, that shall  not  affect
    42  the  validity or effectiveness of any other provision of this act, or of
    43  any other application of any provision of this act, which can  be  given
    44  effect  without  that  provision  or  application;  and to that end, the
    45  provisions and applications of this act are severable.
    46    § 4. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become  a
    47  law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any
    48  rule  or  regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its
    49  effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such
    50  effective date.