Bill Text: IA SF194 | 2013-2014 | 85th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act requiring consumer labeling information for food, providing penalties, and including effective date provisions.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-12-31 - END OF 2013 ACTIONS [SF194 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2013-SF194-Introduced.html

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Senate File 194 - Introduced
SENATE FILE 194
BY BOLKCOM
A BILL FOR
An Act requiring consumer labeling information for food,
providing penalties, and including effective date
provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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Section 1. NEW SECTION . 189B.1 Short title.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Consumer
Labeling Information for Food Act” .
Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 189B.2 Purpose.
The purpose of this chapter is to allow Iowans greater
access to information about the food they and their families
consume, recognizing that such information is indispensable to
the exercise of informed consumer choice in a free and open
marketplace.
Sec. 3. NEW SECTION . 189B.3 Definitions.
As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise
requires:
1. “Department” means the department of agriculture and land
stewardship.
2. “Food item” means any raw, cooked, or processed edible
substance used or intended for use or sale in whole or in part
for human consumption.
3. “Genetic engineering” means the process of producing an
organism in which genetic material has been changed through the
application of any of the following:
a. An in vitro nucleic acid technique, which includes
but is not limited to recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid,
direct injection of nucleic acid into cells or organelles,
encapsulation, gene deletion, and doubling.
b. A method of fusing cells beyond the taxonomic family that
overcomes natural physiological reproductive or recombinant
barriers, and that does not utilize techniques used in
traditional breeding and selection such as conjugation,
transduction, or hybridization.
4. “Grocery store” means a food establishment licensed
pursuant to section 137F.6 which operates as a business selling
food items to the public for off-premises preparation or
consumption.
Sec. 4. NEW SECTION . 189B.4 Labeling standards.
1. A person manufacturing a packaged food item that the
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person offers for sale to a grocery store shall disclose
whether the food item was or may have been subjected to genetic
engineering when produced.
2. The disclosure required in subsection 1 shall be printed
on a label. To every extent possible, the label shall be
placed in a clear and conspicuous manner on or in proximity
to the food item. The label for a packaged food item shall
resemble a label listing food ingredients required for that
food item or comparable food item pursuant to 21 C.F.R. pt.
101.
Sec. 5. NEW SECTION . 189B.5 Exceptions —— presumption.
1. This chapter does not apply to any of the following:
a. A person who is a small business as defined in section
15.102.
b. Meat, fish, or poultry only because it originated from an
animal which consumed genetically engineered feed.
c. An alcoholic beverage as defined in section 123.3.
2. A food item is presumed exempt from the requirements of
section 189B.4 if the food item is any of the following:
a. Labeled organic pursuant to chapter 190C.
b. Certified by a third party as not produced using
genetically engineered products, as provided by rules adopted
by the department.
Sec. 6. NEW SECTION . 189B.6 Rules.
The department shall adopt rules as necessary to implement
and enforce this chapter. The department may adopt rules
establishing labeling standards for specific food items, or a
category of food items, that differ from the labeling standards
provided in section 189B.4 as long as such standards provide
reasonable notice to the consumer of the information required
to be disclosed pursuant to that section.
Sec. 7. NEW SECTION . 189B.7 Penalties.
A person manufacturing a packaged food item who fails to
comply with the labeling standards in section 189B.4 is subject
to a civil penalty of not more than one hundred dollars for
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each packaged food item that is unlabeled and ultimately sold
or offered for sale at a grocery store in this state. However,
the person shall not be subject to a civil penalty of more
than ten thousand dollars for the sale or offer for sale of a
single manufactured lot of packaged food items if the person
did not know that the packaged food items were subjected to
genetic engineering or the failure to comply with the labeling
standards was due to a malfunction of the manufacturing process
or inadvertence.
Sec. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect five hundred
and forty days after approved by the governor.
EXPLANATION
This bill requires food items to be labeled with information
that identifies the food items as genetically engineered. The
department of agriculture and land stewardship is responsible
for administering and enforcing the bill’s provisions. A
person manufacturing a packaged food item for sale to a grocery
store must disclose whether it was or may have been subjected
to genetic engineering when produced. The disclosure must
appear on a printed label. The label on a package must be based
on federal ingredient labeling standards. The bill creates an
exception for a small business which has either fewer than 20
employees or an annual gross income of less than $4 million.
Certain food items are exempted, including meat, fish,
or poultry that was fed with genetically engineered feed
and alcoholic beverages. Certain food items are presumed
not to have been genetically engineered including foods
labeled organic or certified by a third party. A person
manufacturing a packaged food item who fails to comply with
the labeling standards, is subject to civil penalties. The
civil penalty equals $100 per food item that is not labeled in
compliance with the bill’s provisions. However, under certain
circumstances a manufacturer’s civil penalty is capped at
$10,000 for the sale or offer for sale of a single manufactured
lot of packaged food items.
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The bill takes effect 540 days after approval by the
governor.
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