BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 97
Author: Mendoza (D), et al
Amended: 5/8/08 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 7-4, 7/11/07
AYES: Kuehl, Alquist, Cedillo, Negrete McLeod,
Ridley-Thomas, Steinberg, Yee
NOES: Aanestad, Cox, Maldonado, Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 9-2, 8/22/07
AYES: Torlakson, Cedillo, Corbett, Florez, Kuehl, Oropeza,
Ridley-Thomas, Steinberg, Yee
NOES: Cox, Ashburn
NO VOTE RECORDED: Aanestad, Battin, Dutton, Runner,
Simitian, Wyland
SENATE FLOOR : 18-22, 9/12/07 (FAIL)
AYES: Alquist, Cedillo, Corbett, Kehoe, Kuehl, Lowenthal,
Migden, Oropeza, Padilla, Perata, Ridley-Thomas, Romero,
Scott, Simitian, Steinberg, Torlakson, Vincent, Wiggins
NOES: Aanestad, Ackerman, Ashburn, Battin, Calderon,
Cogdill, Correa, Cox, Denham, Ducheny, Dutton, Florez,
Harman, Hollingsworth, Machado, Maldonado, Margett,
McClintock, Negrete McLeod, Runner, Wyland, Yee
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 42-31, 6/7/07 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Food facilities: trans fats
SOURCE : Author
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DIGEST : This bill prohibits food facilities from
storing, distributing, using in food preparation, or
serving food containing artificial trans fat, as specified.
Senate Floor Amendments of 5/8/08 make technical changes
and add Senator Alquist as a principal co-author.
Senate Floor Amendments of 4/24/08 delete specified
findings and declarations and delete the January 1, 2013
date to authorize local governing bodies to regulate trans
fats in food.
ANALYSIS :
Existing federal law:
1. Establishes the United States Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) to regulate food, cosmetics,
medicines, and medicine products and to ensure that such
products are labeled appropriately.
2. Establishes the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act,
which requires all packaged foods sold outside of
restaurants to include nutritional content information
on the packaging, including how many grams of trans
fatty acid (trans fat) are contained within one serving
of the product.
Existing state law:
1. Establishes the California Retail Food Code (CalCode),
which imposes various health and safety requirements on
restaurants, and makes violations of these requirements
subject to criminal penalties. CalCode establishes the
authority of local environmental health jurisdictions to
adopt a food safety inspection program with oversight by
the Department of Public Health.
2. Defines "food facility" as an operation that stores,
prepares, packages, serves, vends, or otherwise provides
food for human consumption at the retail level,
regardless of whether the food is consumed on or off the
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premises or whether there is a charge for the food.
3. Includes in this definition any place used in
conjunction, such as storage facilities for food related
utensils, equipment and materials, as well as permanent
and nonpermanent food facilities, including, but not
limited to (a) public and private school cafeterias, (b)
restricted food service facilities, (c) licensed health
care facilities, (d) commissaries, (e) mobile food
facilities, (f) mobile support units, (g) temporary food
facilities, (h) vending machines, and (i) certified
farmers' markets, for purposes of permitting and
enforcement.
This bill:
1. Prohibits, commencing January 1, 2010, food facilities
from storing, distributing, serving or using in food
preparation any oil, shortening, or margarine containing
artificial trans fat for use in spreads or frying.
2. Allows an exception for the deep frying of yeast dough
and cake batter until January 1, 2011. Commencing
January 1, 2011, this bill prohibits food facilities
from storing, distributing, serving or using in food
preparation any food containing artificial trans fat.
3. Exempts foods that are sold or served in a
manufacturer's original, sealed package from the
provisions above.
4. Requires food facilities to maintain on their premises
the labeling information, as defined, for any food or
food additive that is, or includes, any fat, oil, or
shortening for as long as the food or food additive is
stored, distributed, served, or used in food preparation
by the facility.
5. Defines a food containing artificial trans fat as a food
that contains vegetable shortening, margarine, or any
kind of partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, unless the
label lists the trans fat content as less than 0.5 grams
per serving.
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6. Exempts public elementary, middle, junior high, or high
school cafeterias from the provisions of this bill and
imposes a fine of not less than $25 nor more than
$1,000.
Background
According to the FDA, trans fat, also known as trans fatty
acids, is made by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil, a
process called hydrogenation. Hydrogenation increases the
shelf life and flavor stability of food containing these
fats. Trans fat is commonly found in vegetable
shortenings, some margarines, cookies, crackers, snack
foods, energy and nutrition bars, and other foods made
with, or fried in, partially hydrogenated oils. A small
amount of trans fat is found naturally, primarily in some
animal-based foods, however, naturally occurring trans fat
represents only about 21 percent of the overall consumption
of trans fat, according to the FDA. The FDA estimates that
the average daily intake of trans fat in the United States
population is about 5.8 grams or 2.6 percent of calories
per day for individuals 20 years of age or older.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2007-08 2008-09
2009-10 Fund
Local mandate costs $0 $0
$100General
The FDA estimates that banning trans fats will annually
save California between $90,000 and $180,000 from
reduced medical costs.
SUPPORT : (Verified 4/28/08)
California Academy of Family Physicians
California Alliance for Consumer Protection
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California Association of Environmental Health
Administrators
California Center for Public Health Advocacy
California Chiropractic Association
California Rice Oil Company
Center for Science in the Public Interest
County of Los Angeles
US FoodGroup
OPPOSITION : (Verified 4/28/08)
California Restaurant Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the California
Association of Environmental Health Administrators (CAEHA),
ensuring a safe and healthy environment at food facilities
is a significant and important responsibility of county
environmental health officers. CAEHA states that though
its members do all they can to ensure that food is stored,
prepared and served in a clean and safe manner, a safe and
healthy food environment cannot ignore the nutritional
value of food itself. Supporters point out that the
negative impacts of trans fats are well-established and
recognized by public health experts and the FDA.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The California Restaurant
Association opposes the bill and writes: "Ethnic
foodservice establishments -- who provide such an
extraordinary range of dishes from around the world --
would be particularly impacted by a ban on trans fats.
While it may be easier to find trans fat-free substitutes
for some foods, ethnic dishes are more difficult to prepare
in this way. The characteristics of partially hydrogenated
oils are hard to reproduce without using oils high in
saturated fats, like butter or lard. Unless you use an
alternative with saturated fats, trans fats are proving
difficult replace without changing the taste and texture of
many products. The particular oil used in a food affects
product taste, appearance, texture, performance and
stability."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Bass, Beall, Berg, Brownley, Caballero, Charles
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Calderon, Carter, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeSaulnier, Dymally, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fuentes, Hancock,
Hayashi, Hernandez, Huffman, Jones, Karnette, Krekorian,
Laird, Levine, Lieber, Lieu, Ma, Mendoza, Mullin, Nava,
Parra, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Solorio,
Swanson, Torrico, Wolk, Nunez
NOES: Adams, Aghazarian, Anderson, Arambula, Benoit,
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson,
Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Houston, Huff, Jeffries,
Keene, La Malfa, Maze, Nakanishi, Niello, Plescia, Sharon
Runner, Silva, Smyth, Spitzer, Strickland, Tran,
Villines, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Fuller, Garcia, Horton, Leno, Price,
Richardson, Soto
CTW:mw 5/13/08 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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