Requires food service establishments to post a warning when trans fat is used in some or all of their food preparation

4 Co-sponsors

• Ruben Diaz
• Shirley L. Huntley
• George Onorato
• Antoine M. Thompson

Title of bill

An act to amend the public health law and the general business law, in relation to requiring food service establishments to post a warning when trans fat is used in some or all of their food preparation

Purpose or general idea of bill

To provide consumers with information about trans fatty acids contained in the foods they consume at restaurants so that the consumers are able to make informed choices about nutrition and healthy dietary practices.

Summary of specific provisions

Amends the Public Health Law by adding a new section 1352-d and the General Business Law by adding a new section 391-q, each of which requires food service establishments (as declined in the state sanitary code) to post a notice at or near the entrance to the establishment if the establishment uses trans fat in the preparation of some or all of its food. The notice shall state such use as well as a warning that trans fats increase the risks of heart attack. Subsection 2 requires the food service establishment to inquire whether food obtained from vendors was prepared using trans fat and requires the same notice if food served to consumers from vendors were prepared with trans fat. Section 3 provides for penalties of up to five hundred dollars for an initial violation and up to one thousand dollars for subsequent violations. Section 4 defines trans fat.

Justification

It has been determined that trans fats have an adverse effect on blood cholesterol, raising the levels of LDLs, or "bad" cholesterol and lowering the levels of HDLs or "good" cholesterol. The result is that trans fats increase the risks of and associated with coronary heart disease and can increase the risks of heart attacks, strokes and type-two diabetes. More people die of cardiovascular disease in New York State than of any other illness or disease and the cost of cardiovascular disease in the state was over $16 billion in 2002.

Because of the risks associated with the consumption of trans fats, experts recommends that no more than 1% of a person's daily calories come from trans fats. The Food and Drug Administration has recognized the substantial interest that the government has in assisting consumers to maintain healthy dietary practices and therefore, to enable the consumer to make appropriate and informed choices, has required that trans fat content be listed on nutritional information panels on foods. The FDA estimates that this labeling requirement will annually prevent from 600 to 1,200 heart attacks and save 250-500 lives. Based on this estimate, this rule will realize a cost savings of $900 million to $ 1.8 billion per year in medical costs, lost productivity, and pain and suffering.

Since restaurants are not subject to nutrition labeling requirements, often a customer may consume multiple times more trans fat than the recommended amounts without realizing it. In response to this issue, New York City has banned the use of trans fats in restaurants. Rather than ban trans tats, this bill balances the public policy in favor of allowing consumers to make informed decisions about their health and dietary choices and the state's interest in reducing coronary heart disease with the ability of a food service establishment to make its own choices regarding food preparation. At the same time, public opinion may help encourage such establishments to minimize or discontinue the use of trans fats.

Prior legislative history

None. FISCAL IMPLICATIONS : None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect one hundred eighty days after it shall have become a law.