Bill Text: IL SB1666 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Creates the Genetically Engineered Food Labeling Act. Sets forth the General Assembly's findings and the purpose of the Act. Provides that beginning on the effective date of the Act, any food offered for retail sale in this State is misbranded if it is entirely or partially produced with genetic engineering and that fact is not disclosed in a certain manner. Provides that the Act shall not be construed to require either the listing or identification of any ingredient or ingredients that were genetically engineered, nor that the term "genetically engineered" be placed immediately preceding any common name or primary product descriptor of a food. Provides that until the effective date of the Act, any processed food that would be subject to the provision concerning the labeling of genetically engineered foods solely because it includes one or more materials produced by genetic engineering is not misbranded provided that the engineered materials in the aggregate do not account for more than a certain amount of the total weight of the processed food. Sets forth provisions concerning applicability and the right of action for violations, damages, and attorneys' fees. Provides that the Department of Public Health shall adopt rules necessary to implement the Act. Contains a severability provision.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 20-0)

Status: (Failed) 2015-01-13 - Session Sine Die [SB1666 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2013-SB1666-Amended.html

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Sen. David Koehler

Filed: 3/21/2014

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AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1666
AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1666 by replacing
everything after the enacting clause with the following:
"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Genetically Engineered Food Labeling Act.
Section 15. In this Act, terms have the meanings given to
them in the Illinois Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, except as
provided in this Section.
"Agriculture" means the science, art, or practice of
cultivating soil, producing crops, and raising livestock or
fish and, in varying degrees, the preparation and marketing of
the resulting products.
"Cultivated commercially" means agricultural commodities
grown or raised in the course of business or trade and sold
within the United States.
"Department" means the Department of Public Health.

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"Enzyme" means a protein that catalyzes chemical reactions
of other substances without itself being destroyed or altered
upon completion of the reactions.
"Food" means any articles used to feed or nourish man,
chewing gum, and articles used for components, including food
additives, of any such article.
"Genetically engineered" means a process that results in a
substance that is produced from an organism or organisms in
which the genetic material has been changed through the
application of the following:
(1) in vitro nucleic acid techniques, which include,
but are not limited to, recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid
(DNA), direct injection of nucleic acid into cells or
organelles, encapsulation, gene deletion, and doubling
(for the purposes of this definition, "in vitro nucleic
acid techniques" include, but are not limited to,
recombinant DNA or RNA techniques that use vector systems
and techniques involving the direct introduction into the
organisms of hereditary materials prepared outside the
organisms, such as biolistics, microinjection,
macro-injection, chemoporation, electroporation,
microencapsulation, and liposome fusion); or
(2) methods of fusing cells beyond the taxonomic family
that overcome natural physiological reproductive or
recombinant barriers, and that are not techniques used in
traditional breeding and selection, such as conjugation,

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transduction, and hybridization.
"Label" means a display of written, printed, or graphic
matter upon or connected to the immediate container or surface
of any article. In order to meet the definition of "label", any
word, statement, or other information appearing on the label
shall appear on the outside container or wrapper, if any, of
the bulk, wholesale, or retail package of the article or be
easily legible through the outside container or wrapper.
"Labeling" means any written, printed, or graphic matter
that is present on the label, accompanies the food, or is
displayed near the food, including that for the purpose of
promoting its sale or disposal.
"Manufacturer" means the person or business that makes,
processes, combines, or packages food ingredients into a
finished food product.
"Medical food" means a food that is formulated to be
consumed or administered enterally under the supervision of a
physician and which is intended for the specific dietary
management of a disease or condition for which distinctive
nutritional requirements, based on recognized scientific
principles, are established by medical evaluation.
"Organism" means any biological entity capable of
replication, reproduction, or transferring genetic material.
"Packaged food" means any food offered for retail sale in
this State, other than raw food and food served, sold, or
provided ready to eat in any bake sale, restaurant, or

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cafeteria, and that is otherwise subject to the provisions of
the Illinois Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act prohibiting
misbranding.
"Processed food" means any food other than a raw
agricultural commodity, including any food produced from a raw
agricultural commodity that has been subject to processing such
as canning, smoking, pressing, cooking, freezing, dehydration,
fermentation, or milling.
"Processing aid" means the following:
(a) a substance that is added to a food during the
processing of the food but is removed in some manner from
the food before it is packaged in its final form;
(b) a substance that is added to a food during
processing, is converted into constituents normally
present in the food, and does not significantly increase
the amount of the constituents found in the food; or
(c) a substance that is added to a food for its
technical or functional effects in the processing but is
present in the finished food at insignificant levels and
does not have any technical or functional effect in that
finished food.
"Raw agricultural commodity" means any plant, animal, or
fungi grown or produced for human food purposes, including all
fruits that are washed, colored, or otherwise treated in their
unpeeled natural form before marketing.

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Section 20. Labeling of genetically engineered foods.
(a) Beginning on the effective date of this Act, any food
offered for retail sale in this State is misbranded if it is
entirely or partially produced with genetic engineering and
that fact is not disclosed as follows:
(1) In the case of a raw agricultural commodity, on the
package offered for retail sale, with the words
"Genetically Engineered" appearing clearly and
conspicuously on the label on the front of the package of
the commodity or, in the case of any such commodity that is
not separately packaged or labeled, on a clear and
conspicuous label appearing on the retail store shelf or
bin in which the commodity is displayed for sale.
(2) In the case of processed food containing some
products of genetic engineering, the manufacturer must
label the product, in clear and conspicuous language on the
front or back of the package of such food, with the words
"Produced with Genetic Engineering" or "Partially Produced
with Genetic Engineering".
(b) This Act shall not be construed to require either the
listing or identification of any ingredient or ingredients that
were genetically engineered, nor that the term "genetically
engineered" be placed immediately preceding any common name or
primary product descriptor of a food.
(c) Until the effective date of this Act, any processed
food that would be subject to this Section solely because it

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includes one or more materials produced by genetic engineering
is not misbranded provided that the engineered materials in the
aggregate do not account for more than nine-tenths of one
percent of the total weight of the processed food.
(d) Subsection (a) of this Section does not apply to any of
the following:
(1) food consisting entirely of, or derived entirely
from, an animal that has not itself been genetically
engineered, regardless of whether the animal has been fed
or injected with any food produced with genetic engineering
or any drug or vaccine that has been produced through means
of genetic engineering;
(2) a raw agricultural commodity or food that has been
grown, raised, produced, or derived without the knowing and
intentional use of genetically engineered seed or food; to
be included within the exclusion under this subsection (d),
the person responsible for complying with this Section with
respect to a raw agricultural commodity or food must
obtain, from whoever sold the raw agricultural commodity or
food to that person, a sworn statement that the raw
agricultural commodity or food (A) has not been knowingly
or intentionally genetically engineered and (B) has been
segregated from, and has not been knowingly or
intentionally commingled with, foods that may have been
genetically engineered at any time; in providing the sworn
statement, a person may rely on a sworn statement from his

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or her own supplier that contains such an affirmation;
(3) any processed food that would be subject to this
Section solely because one or more processing aids or
enzymes were produced or derived with genetic engineering;
(4) any alcoholic beverage that is subject to
regulation under the Liquor Control Act of 1934;
(5) food that has been lawfully certified to be
labeled, marketed, and offered for sale as organic pursuant
to the federal Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, 7
U.S.C. 6501, et seq., and the National Organic Program
regulations promulgated pursuant thereto by the United
States Department of Agriculture;
(6) food that is not packaged for retail sale and that
either (A) is a processed food prepared and intended for
immediate human consumption or (B) is served, sold, or
otherwise provided in any restaurant or other food service
establishment that is primarily engaged in the sale of food
prepared and intended for immediate human consumption; or
(7) medical food.
(e) With regard to the requirements of this Act concerning
raw food, the retailer is responsible only for point of
purchase shelf labeling. The supplier must label each container
used for packaging, holding, or transporting, or any
combination thereof, any raw food produced with genetic
engineering that is delivered directly to Illinois retailers.

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Section 25. Right of action for violations, damages, and
attorneys' fees.
(a) The Department, acting through the Attorney General,
may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction to
enjoin any person violating this Act.
(b) The Department may assess a civil penalty against any
person violating this Act.
(c) Any injured citizen of this State may, after giving
notice of the alleged violation to the Attorney General and the
alleged violator and waiting 60 days, bring an action to enjoin
a violation of this Act by a manufacturer or retailer in any
court of competent jurisdiction. The court may award to a
citizen who is a prevailing plaintiff reasonable attorneys'
fees and costs incurred in investigating and prosecuting the
action, but the court may not award any monetary damages.
(d) For the purposes of this Act, food shall be considered
not to have been produced with the knowing or intentional use
of genetic engineering if:
(1) the food is lawfully certified to be labeled,
marketed, and offered for sale as organic pursuant to the
federal Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, 7 U.S.C. 6501
et seq., which prohibits genetic engineering; or
(2) in the case of a manufacturer or retailer obligated
to label any food under this Act, if such entity has
obtained from whomever sold the food to them a sworn
statement that the food has not been knowingly or

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intentionally genetically engineered and has been
segregated from, and not knowingly or intentionally
commingled with, foods that may have been genetically
engineered at any time.
(e) With regard to the sworn statement described in item
(2) of subsection (d) of this Section, a manufacturer or
retailer may rely on a sworn statement from a supplier that
contains the affirmation. Alternatively, a manufacturer or
retailer may rely on an independent organization if it
determines that the food has not been knowingly or
intentionally genetically engineered and has been segregated
from, and not knowingly or intentionally commingled with, foods
that may have been genetically engineered at any time, if such
a determination has been made pursuant to a sampling and
testing procedure:
(1) consistent with sampling and testing principles
recommended by internationally recognized standards
organizations; and
(2) that does not rely on testing processed foods in
which no DNA is detectable.
(f) Unless the retailer is also the producer or the
manufacturer of the food and sells the food under a brand it
owns, no act or omission of any retailer shall be deemed a
violation of this Act, except for knowingly and willfully
failing to provide point of purchase labeling for unpackaged
raw agricultural commodities. In any action in which it is

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alleged that a retailer has violated the provisions of this
Section, it shall be a defense that such retailer reasonably
relied on any disclosure as to whether a food was produced
through genetic engineering contained in the bill of sale or
invoice provided by the wholesaler or distributor, or a lack of
such disclosure.
(g) No action may be brought against any farmer for any
violation of any provision of this Act unless the farmer is
also a retailer or manufacturer, but any farmer submitting a
false sworn statement under item (2) of subsection (d) of this
Section shall be subject to the laws of this State pertaining
to perjury.
(h) The Department of Public Health shall adopt and enforce
rules necessary to implement this Act. The Department of Public
Health is not authorized to exempt from the requirements of
this Section any food product that is made subject to those
requirements by the provisions of this Act. The Department of
Public Health may by rule provide that a person may be subject
to an injunction and responsible for the payment of the
prevailing party's attorneys' fees under this Act for failure
to label packaged food in accordance with this Act at such time
as the Department of Public Health determines the commercial
availability of relevant materials not produced with genetic
engineering.
Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are

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severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect January
1, 2016.".