BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
SB 1138 (Padilla) - Fish and shellfish: labeling.
Amended: As introduced Policy Vote: Health 8-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: May 23, 2014 Consultant: Brendan McCarthy
SUSPENSE FILE.
Bill Summary: SB 1138 would require the label of fish or
shellfish offered for sale to clearly identify the species by
its common name.
Fiscal Impact:
Potential one-time costs up to $150,000 (General Fund) to
amend existing regulations. Under current regulation, the
Department of Public Health can authorize a local
environmental health officer to enforce certain portions of
the Sherman Act. This bill's provisions would be part of the
Sherman Act, but would not be included in the existing
regulations. If local environmental health officers wished
to enforce the provisions of this bill at retail food
facilities, the existing regulations would need to be
amended.
One-time costs of about $170,000 to purchase laboratory
equipment to test fish and shellfish samples for accurate
labeling by the Department of Public Health (General Fund).
Ongoing costs of about $600,000 per year for enforcement of
the bill's requirement by the Department of Public Health
(General Fund). The Department anticipates that it will
perform about 650 spot inspections of retailers to verify
compliance. If the inspection raised issues about the
correct labeling of fish or shellfish, the Department would
then perform DNA tests on a limited number of samples. In
addition, the Department anticipates responding to about 50
complaints from the public per year. To the extent that
local environmental health officers opt to enforce this bill
(and are authorized to do so by the Department), the need
for the Department to conduct spot checks at retail food
facilities would be reduced, reducing the Department's
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enforcement costs.
Background: Under the state Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic
Law, the Department of Public Health is required to regulate the
contents, packaging, labeling and advertising of foods, drugs,
and cosmetics. The Department enforces these requirements at
food processors and distributors. The Sherman Act deems a food
product misbranded if it is offered for sale under the name of
another food. The Department is authorized to adopt regulations
specifying the name and characteristics of seafood for labeling
purposes. The Department is authorized to assess civil penalties
for violations of the Sherman Act or to seek misdemeanor
penalties through the criminal justice system.
Retail food facilities are regulated by local environmental
health officers under the California Retail Food Code. In
addition, upon request of the local environmental health
officer, the Department can authorize the local agency to
enforce certain provisions of the Sherman Act.
Proposed Law: SB 1138 would require the label of fish or
shellfish offered for sale to clearly identify the species by
its common name.
The bill would declare it misbranding to knowingly sell any fish
or shellfish that is mislabeled under the bill.
Related Legislation:
SB 1000 (Monning) would require certain sugar-sweetened
beverages to include a safety warning on the packaging
and/or at the point of sale. That bill will be heard in this
committee.
SB 1381 (Evans) would require the labeling of any
genetically modified foods sold in the state. That bill is
in the Judiciary Committee.
SB 1486 (Lieu, 2012) would have required certain retail
food facilities to provide specified information on seafood
offered for sale. That bill was held in the Senate Rules
Committee.
SB 88 (Huffman, 2011) would have required genetically
engineered fish or fish products to be labelled. That bill
was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Staff Comments: The only costs that may be incurred by a local
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agency under the bill relate to crimes and misdemeanors. Under
the California Constitution, such costs are not reimbursable by
the state.