BILL NUMBER: AB 727 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 25, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Mitchell
FEBRUARY 17, 2011
An act to add Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 12405)
to Part 2 of Division 2 of amend Section 11005.4 of,
and to add Section 11005.8 to, the Government Code, and to amend
Section 12401 of, and to add Section 10300.1 to, the
Public Contract Code, relating to public contracts.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 727, as amended, Mitchell. Public contacts: healthy
Healthy and sustainable food procurement
.
Existing law regulates various aspects of the provision of
food and beverages in vending machines, including requiring a vendor
that operates or maintains a vending machine on designated state
property to offer food and beverages in the vending machine that meet
accepted nutritional guidelines, as defined, in accordance with
certain percentages. Existing law governing contracting between
state agencies and private contractors sets forth requirements for
the procurement of supplies, materials, equipment, and services by
state agencies and sets forth the various responsibilities of the
Department of General Services and other state agencies in overseeing
and implementing state contracting procedures and policies.
This bill would require, beginning January 1, 2014, at least 50%
of food and beverages offered by a vendor in a vending machine on
designated state property to meet accepted nutritional guidelines,
and by January 1, 2016, at least 100% of the food and beverages
offered by such a vendor to meet those nutritional guidelines. The
bill also would revise the definition of accepted nutritional
guidelines for this purpose.
This bill would additionally require, beginning January 1, 2014,
any food sold in a state-owned or leased building to meet the
standard criteria for food and nutrition guidelines for concessions
as determined under the federal Health and Sustainability Guidelines
for Federal Concessions and Vending Operations.
This bill would also require the Department of General Services,
when approving contractors for the purchase of food sold in any
state-owned or leased building, to give preference to food which
meets certain criteria, as specified, and would require the
Department of General Services to provide state agencies with the
federal Health and Sustainability Guidelines for Federal Concessions
and Vending Operations. The bill would make related legislative
findings regarding its purpose.
This bill would require the department to develop nutrition
standards to govern the foods purchased for all state departments,
agencies, and state-run institutions in accordance with the federal
dietary guidelines. This bill would also require the department to
develop prescribed guidelines for sustainable purchasing practices
and procedures that encourage purchasing from local vendors, farms,
and manufacturers when feasible. This bill would authorize the
department to consult with the Department of Public Health in
developing these standards and guidelines.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares
all of the following:
(1) More than six million California adults, 23 percent of the
state's population, are obese and an additional 9.3 million adults,
34 percent of the state's population, are overweight, resulting in
$21 billion in estimated health care costs for California in 2006.
Therefore, offering healthy and sustainable food and beverage options
at state workplaces would help increase the consumption of foods
that are low in fat, sodium, and sugars, thereby reducing the
instances of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other preventable
health conditions.
(2) Buying local and sustainable food and beverage options reduces
vehicle miles traveled, which positively impacts the environment. In
2008, the agriculture sector contributed 6.1 percent of the total
United States greenhouse gas emissions. Further, 11 percent of the
greenhouse gas emissions are a result of "food miles," while
wholesaling and retailing food contribute 5 percent, and food
production practices account for the majority, 83 percent, of
greenhouse gas emissions from the food system.
(3) The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has
published a guide entitled "Improving the Food Environment Through
Nutrition Standards: A Guide for Government Procurement," which finds
that states and localities can develop, adopt, and implement food
procurement policies in order to model healthier food environments to
positively impact government settings, including employee
cafeterias, correctional facilities, schools, child care centers,
public hospitals, senior centers, and parks.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to amend existing law
regarding nutritional guidelines in order to further assist vendors
and contractors that provide food and beverages through vending
operations in increasing well-balanced and healthy food and snack
items.
SEC. 2. Section 11005.4 of the
Government Code is amended to read:
11005.4. (a) For purposes of this section, the following terms
have the following meanings:
(1) "Accepted nutritional guidelines" as used in this section
means the following:
(A) Beverages that are the following or meet the following
standards:
(i) Water Drinking water, including
carbonated water products.
(ii) Milk products , including, but not limited to,
2 percent, 1 percent, or nonfat milk, soy milk, rice milk,
and other similar dairy or nondairy milk
without added sweeteners. This clause shall not apply to nuts, seeds,
eggs, and cheese packaged for individual sale .
(iii) Electrolyte replacement beverages that do not contain more
than 42 grams of added sweetener per 20-ounce serving. Sugar
(iii) Sugar sweetened or artificially sweetened beverages that do
not exceed 25 calories per 8 ounces.
(iv) One hundred percent fruit juice.
(v) Fruit-based drinks that are composed of no less than 50
percent fruit juice and that have no added sweeteners.
(B) Food that meets the following standards:
(i) Not more than 35 percent of its total calories are from fat.
This clause does shall not apply to
nuts, seeds, or whole grain products legumes,
nuts, nut butters, seeds, eggs, nonfried vegetables, and cheese
packaged for individual sale .
(ii) Not more than 10 percent of its total calories are from
saturated fats.
(iii) Not more than 35 percent of its total weight is from sugar.
This clause does not apply to fruits and vegetables.
(iv) Individual snack items shall not exceed 250 calories.
(v) Individual snack items shall not exceed 230 milligrams of
sodium per serving. This clause shall not apply to refrigerated
meals.
(vi) Individual entr�e items shall not exceed 480 milligrams of
sodium per serving.
(2) "Added sweetener" means any additive that enhances the
sweetness of a beverage, including, but not limited to, added sugar,
but does not include the natural sugar or sugars that are contained
within the fruit juice that is a component of the beverage.
(3) "State property" as used in this section means all real
property, or part thereof, used for state purposes and either owned,
leased, rented, or otherwise controlled by, and occupied by, any
state agency.
(4) "Vending machine" means any mechanical device , the
operation of which depends upon the insertion of a coin or other
thing representative of value and that dispenses or vends a food
product or beverage, but does not include any mechanical device that
is unable to dispense any food or beverage meeting accepted
nutritional guidelines without physical alteration or any mechanical
device that solely dispenses or vends hot beverages or ice cream.
(5) "Individual entr�e item" means food generally regarded as the
primary food in a meal and which contains either:
(A) Two or more of the following groups: meat or meat alternatives
such as tofu or other similar alternatives, grain or bread,
vegetable or fruit that are eaten together including, but not limited
to, sandwiches, pizza, hamburger on a bun, bean burrito, chef's
salad, fruit and cheese platter, baked potato with chili, chicken
vegetable stir-fry, or vegetable sandwich.
(B) A meat or meat alternative alone including, but not limited
to, sausage patty, egg, and chicken nuggets. Nuts, nut butters,
seeds, cheese, and yogurt served alone shall not be included for
purposes of this subparagraph.
(6) "Individual snack item" means an item that does not meet the
definition of an "individual entr�e item."
(b) A vendor that operates or maintains a vending machine on state
property shall do all of the following:
(1) Offer Until January 1, 2014, offer in
the vending machine at least 35 percent of the
food in a vending machine that meets accepted
nutritional guidelines that meets accepted nutritional
guidelines .
(i) Beginning January 1, 2014, offer in the vending machine at
least 50 percent of food that meets accepted nutritional guidelines.
(ii) Beginning January 1, 2016, offer in the vending machine 100
percent of food that meets accepted nutritional guidelines.
(2) Offer Until January 1, 2014, offer in
the vending machine at least one-third of the beverages
in a vending machine that meets
meet accepted nutritional guidelines. At least one
beverage option shall be drinking water and the price of the drinking
water shall not be higher than the other beverage options. A
separate one-third of the beverages offered in the vending machine
shall either meet accepted nutritional guidelines or be flavored
milk, beverages containing less than 20 calories per 12 ounce
serving, or beverages that are composed of at least 50 percent fruit
juice that may contain noncaloric sweetener. The remaining one-third
of the beverages offered in the vending machine may be any beverage
allowed by law.
(i) Beginning January 1, 2014, offer in the vending machine at
least 50 percent of beverages that meet accepted nutritional
guidelines.
(ii) Beginning January 1, 2016, offer in the vending machine 100
percent of beverages that meet accepted nutritional guidelines.
(c) A vendor may meet the requirements in subdivision (b) by
offering 25 percent of the food in a vending machine that meets
accepted nutritional guidelines by January 1, 2009, and
by offering the total 35 percent of the food required to
meet accepted nutritional guidelines by January 1, 2011 , by
offering 50 percent of the food required to meet accepted nutritional
guidelines by January 1, 2014, and by offering the total 100 percent
of the food required to meet accepted nutritional guidelines by
January 1, 2016 .
(d) If a vendor operates or maintains two or more vending machines
that are located next to each other, the provisions of subdivisions
(b) and (c) may be met by calculating the percentage of the total
food and beverages offered in all of the adjacent machines.
(e) This section shall remain in effect only until four years
after the last date that a vendor may meet the requirements of
paragraph (1) of subdivision (b), as specified in subdivision (c),
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before that date, deletes or extends that date.
SEC. 3. Section 11005.8 is added to the
Government Code , to read:
11005.8. Beginning January 1, 2014, food sold in any state-owned
or leased building at food concessions and cafeterias shall meet at
least the standard criteria for food and nutrition guidelines for
concessions as determined by the federal Department of Health and
Human Services and the United States General Services Administration'
s Health and Sustainability Guidelines for Federal Concessions and
Vending Operations.
SEC. 4. Section 10300.1 is added to the
Public Contract Code , to read:
10300.1. (a) When approving contracts for the purchase of food to
be sold in any state-owned or leased building at food concessions,
cafeterias, or vending operations, the Department of General Services
shall give preference to purchasing food items in the following
order:
(1) Food items grown, packaged, or produced within 150 miles of
the building where the food will be sold.
(2) Food items grown, packaged, or produced within the state of
California.
(b) When approving contracts for the purchase of food to be sold
in any state-owned or leased building for food concessions,
cafeterias, or vending operations, the Department of General Services
shall give preference to purchasing food items that meet the
sustainability guidelines for general food as determined by the
federal Department of Health and Human Services and the United States
General Services Administration's Health and Sustainability
Guidelines for Federal Concessions and Vending Operations.
SEC. 5. Section 12401 of the Public
Contract Code is amended to read:
12401. The Department of General Services, in consultation with
the California Environmental Protection Agency, members of the
public, industry, and public health and environmental organizations,
shall provide state agencies with information and assistance
regarding environmentally preferable purchasing including, but not
limited to, the following:
(a) The promotion of environmentally preferable purchasing.
(b) The development and implementation of a strategy to increase
environmentally preferable purchasing. This may include the
development of statewide policies, guidelines, programs, and
regulations.
(c) The coordination with other state and federal agencies, task
forces, workgroups, regulatory efforts, research and data collection
efforts, and other programs and services relating to environmentally
preferable purchasing.
(d) The development and implementation, to the extent fiscally
feasible, of training programs designed to instill the importance and
value of environmentally preferable purchasing.
(e) The development, to the extent fiscally feasible, of an
environmentally preferable purchasing best practices manual for state
purchasing employees.
(f) The federal Department of Health and Human Services and the
United States General Services Administrations Health and
Sustainability Guidelines for Federal Concessions and Vending
Operations to assist in developing practices to promote the
acquisition of healthy, sustainable, and environmentally preferable
purchasing.
SECTION 1. Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section
12405) is added to Part 2 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code,
to read:
CHAPTER 6.5. HEALTHY AND SUSTAINABLE FOOD PROCUREMENT ACT
12405. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Access to safe and nutritious foods is essential to a person's
health.
(b) Hunger, food insecurity, and poor nutrition are critical
issues that require immediate and sustained action to be reduced and
eliminated.
(c) The way that we process, grow, and develop foods and food
policy has a short-and-long-term economic and environmental effect on
our local communities and the state overall.
(d) Sustainable food systems can provide nutritious foods for all
people, shorten the distance between food consumers and producers,
protect workers' health and welfare, minimize environmental effects,
and strengthen connections between urban and rural communities.
(e) As one of the leading agricultural states in the nation,
California has the potential to serve as a model state promoting
procurement policies that reflect the goals of healthy eating,
sustainability, and supporting local economies.
12406. (a) The Department of General Services shall develop
nutrition standards to govern the foods purchased for all state
departments, agencies, and state-run institutions in accordance with
the federal dietary guidelines developed by the United States
Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Health
and Human Services.
(b) The Department of General Services shall develop guidelines
for sustainable purchasing practices and procedures that encourage
purchasing from local vendors, farms, and manufacturers when
feasible. The guidelines shall serve as a model for purchasing goods
and services in ways that have the least impact on the environment,
promote healthy and nutritious foods, and support local economies.
(c) For the purposes of this section, the Department of General
Services may consult with the State Department of Public Health.