Bill Text: CA AB899 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Food safety: baby food.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-10-10 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 668, Statutes of 2023. [AB899 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB899-Amended.html
110962.
Bill Title: Food safety: baby food.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-10-10 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 668, Statutes of 2023. [AB899 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB899-Amended.html
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Amended
IN
Assembly
April 12, 2023 |
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Amended
IN
Assembly
March 13, 2023 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 899
| Introduced by Assembly Member Muratsuchi (Coauthor: Assembly Member Weber) |
February 14, 2023 |
An act to add Article 8.5 (commencing with Section 110962) to Chapter 5 of Part 5 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to food.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 899, as amended, Muratsuchi.
Food safety: infant formula and baby food.
Existing law, the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, provides for the regulation of various subjects relating to the manufacturing, processing, labeling, advertising, and sale of food, drugs, and cosmetics, under the administration and enforcement of the State Department of Public Health. A violation of these provisions is punishable as a misdemeanor.
This bill would require an in-state or out-of-state manufacturer of infant formula or baby food for sale or distribution in this state state, beginning on January 1, 2024, to test a representative sample of
their final infant formula or baby food product, as defined, for toxic heavy metals, including levels of lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic, and to make arsenic. The bill would require a manufacturer, for infant formula or baby food sold, manufactured, delivered, held, or offered for sale in the state, on and after January 1, 2025, to provide specified information disclosures to consumers, including making publicly available on its internet website the name and level of toxic heavy metals present in the final infant formula or baby food product. The bill would also require those manufacturers to, for infant formula or baby food products for which the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has adopted industry guidance for levels of
established an action level, regulatory limit, or tolerance for a certain toxic heavy metal, to include a label on the product that it has been tested for that toxic heavy metal and is within the FDA guidance.
metal. The bill would also require those manufacturers, for infant formula or baby food products that do not exceed an action level, regulatory limit, or tolerance established by the FDA for a toxic heavy metal, to include on the label that the product meets FDA guidance. The bill would prohibit a person or entity from selling in the state or manufacturing, delivering, holding, or offering for sale in the state any infant formula that does not comply with these provisions. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Article 8.5 (commencing with Section 110962) is added to Chapter 5 of Part 5 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:Article 8.5. Infant Formula and Baby Food
An in-state or out-of-state manufacturer of infant formula or baby food for sale or distribution in this state shall do all of the following:
(a)(1)Test their final infant formula or baby food product for toxic heavy metals, including levels of lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic.
(2)For purposes of this section, “final infant formula or baby food product” means the finished product of infant formula or baby food as opposed to the constituent ingredients of infant formula or baby food.
(3)A manufacturer may test their final infant formula or baby food product pursuant to this section before packaging individual units of infant formula or baby food for sale or distribution.
(b)Make publicly available on its internet website the name and level of toxic heavy metals present in the final infant formula or baby food product.
(c)For infant formula or baby food products for which the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has adopted industry guidance for levels of a certain toxic heavy metal, include a label on the product that it has been tested for that toxic heavy metal and is within the FDA guidance.
110962.
(a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:(1) “Baby food” means food packaged in jars, pouches, tubs, and boxes represented or purported to be specifically for babies and young children less than two years old.
(2) “Final infant formula or baby food product” means the finished product of infant formula or baby food and not the constituent ingredients of infant formula or baby food.
(3) “Infant formula” means a food that purports to be or is represented for special dietary use solely as a food for infants by reason of its simulation of human milk or its suitability as a complete or
partial substitute for human milk.
(4) “Product label” means a display of written, printed, or graphic material that is affixed to a product or its immediate container.
(5) “Production aggregate” means a quantity of product, or, in the case of an infant formula produced by continuous process, a specific identified amount produced in a unit of time, that is intended to have uniform composition, character, and quality, and is produced according to a master manufacturing order.
(6) “Representative sample” means a sample that consists of a number of units that are drawn based on rational criteria, such as random sampling, and intended to ensure that the sample accurately portrays the material being sampled.
(b) An in-state or out-of-state manufacturer of
infant formula or baby food for sale or distribution in this state shall do all of the following:
(1) (A) Beginning on January 1, 2024, test a representative sample of each production aggregate of their final infant formula or baby food product for toxic heavy metals, including levels of lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic.
(B) A manufacturer may test their final infant formula or baby food product pursuant to subparagraph (A) before packaging individual units of infant formula or baby food for sale or distribution.
(2) For infant formula or baby food products sold, manufactured, delivered, held, or offered for sale in the state on and after January 1, 2025, disclose product information to consumers by doing all of the following:
(A) Make publicly available on its internet website the name and level of toxic heavy metals present in each production aggregate of their final infant formula or baby food product.
(B) Disclose on a product label that the product is a part of a production aggregate that has been tested for a toxic heavy metal that the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has established an action level, regulatory limit, or tolerance for pursuant to Part 109 (commencing with Section 109.3) of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(C) If the production aggregate that the product is a part of does not exceed an action level, regulatory limit, or tolerance established by the FDA for a certain toxic heavy metal pursuant to Part 109 (commencing with Section 109.3) of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations, include on a product label that the product meets FDA guidance
for that toxic heavy metal.
