Bill Text: NJ S1819 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires restaurants to provide alternative menu for individuals with diabetes.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Commerce Committee [S1819 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S1819-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT
District 31 (Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Requires restaurants to provide alternative menu for individuals with diabetes.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning restaurants and diabetes and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Commissioner of Health, in consultation with the New Jersey Restaurant Association, shall prepare a fact sheet, to be directed to restaurant owners, managers, and staff, which is designed to explain the impact of diet on the health of individuals with diabetes and include information to assist restaurants in preparing an alternative menu for individuals with diabetes pursuant to subsection b. of this section.
b. A restaurant operating within the State shall make available, upon request of the customer, an alternative menu for individuals with diabetes. Within six months after the menu is available, a restaurant shall indicate on its regular menu and public display menu sign that a menu for individuals with diabetes is available upon request.
c. A restaurant found in violation of subsection b. of this section shall be subject to a civil penalty of up to $500 per violation. A civil penalty imposed pursuant to this section may be collected with costs in a summary proceeding pursuant to the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.). The commissioner or a local board of health or local health officer may initiate a summary proceeding in the Superior Court or in the appropriate municipal court having jurisdiction.
Every day upon which a violation occurs shall be considered a separate violation, but a penalty shall not be assessed that is greater than $5,000 for each occurrence.
d. For purposes of this section, "restaurant" means an establishment in which the principal business is the sale of food for consumption on the premises.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month next following the date of enactment, but the Commissioner of Health may take such administrative action prior to the effective date as necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill requires that restaurants provide, upon request, alternative menus for individuals with diabetes.
Under the bill, the Commissioner of Health, in consultation with the New Jersey Restaurant Association, would be required to prepare a fact sheet to be directed to restaurant owners, managers, and staff, which is designed to explain the impact of diet on the health of individuals with diabetes and include information to assist restaurants in preparing an alternative menu for individuals with diabetes.
In addition, the bill requires that restaurants operating within the State make available, upon the request of the customer, an alternative menu for individuals with diabetes. The bill provides that within six months after the menu is available, a restaurant is to indicate on its regular menu and public display menu sign that a menu for individuals with diabetes is available upon request.
A restaurant in violation of the menu requirements imposed by the bill would be subject to a civil penalty of up to $500 per violation. The Commissioner of Health or a local board of health or local health officer may initiate a summary proceeding in the Superior Court or in the appropriate municipal court having jurisdiction. Every day upon which a violation occurs would be considered a separate violation but no penalty would be assessed that is greater than $5,000 for each occurrence.
