BILL NUMBER: AB 1100	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Roger Hernández

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2011

   An act relating to food facilities.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1100, as introduced, Roger Hernández. Retail food facilities:
toys and incentives.
   The California Retail Food Code provides for the regulation of
health and sanitation standards for retail food facilities by the
State Department of Public Health. Local health agencies are
primarily responsible for enforcing this law.
   This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation to improve the health of children in California by
setting healthier standards for children's meals that are accompanied
by toys and other incentive items.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) Obesity is one of the leading causes of preventable death and
is associated with increased rates of chronic diseases, including
heart disease, diabetes, cancer and stroke.
   (b) A 2010 study conducted by the federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention indicates that the total health burden of
obesity has surpassed the total health impact of tobacco use, which
is the leading cause of preventable death.
   (c) Roughly one in nine children, one in three teens, and three in
five adults are overweight or obese in California.
   (d) Children who are obese or overweight have an increased risk of
being obese or overweight as adults. Seventy-five percent of
children who are overweight are expected to be overweight as adults.
Adult obesity rates have increased by nearly 10 percent and have more
than doubled since 1990 in California.
   (e) Obesity is especially prevalent among people with low incomes
and communities of color with 30 percent of low-income children being
overweight. Forty percent of the state's medically obese adult
population is of Hispanic origin. The four largest groups at risk for
childhood obesity, Pacific Islanders, Latinos, American Indians, and
African Americans, are all minority communities.
   (f) As a result of the obesity epidemic, we are seeing an alarming
rise in chronic illnesses in children, with childhood chronic
disease rates quadrupling over the past four decades. Additionally,
obese children are more than twice as likely to have type-2 diabetes
as children of normal weight.
   (g) California's obesity epidemic poses not only a significant
public health threat, but also an economic threat to the state.
Obesity results in increased health care costs and decreased
productivity in the workplace. By 2011, the California Center for
Public Health Advocacy estimates that the annual economic costs
associated with obesity, overweight, and physical inactivity in the
state is projected to increase to $53 billion.
   (h) Studies estimate that by 2023, Californians will have more
than four million avoidable chronic diseases that will cost nearly
$19 billion to treat and will result in nearly $100 billion in lost
productivity.
   (i) Dining out is becoming increasingly more common. 133 million
Americans purchase food at restaurants every day. The food that
children eat at restaurants has a direct impact on their risk of
becoming overweight and other health risks. Unfortunately, the food
and beverages offered at restaurants that typically service children
often fail to meet accepted nutritional recommendations.
   (j) The Federal Trade Commission reports that toy giveaways in
restaurants are estimated to be the second highest child-directed
expenditure by the restaurant industry, next to television
advertising. This expenditure amounted to at least $360 million on
toys in 2006.
   (k) The Center for Science in the Public Interest studied children'
s meals at restaurants and found that 10 out of 12 of the highest
calorie meals came with toys.
   (l) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that
would improve the health of children in California by setting
healthier standards for children's meals that are accompanied by toys
and other incentive items.