Bill Text: NY A00685 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Requires high-sugar beverages to be labeled with a safety warning stating that the beverage contains 100% or more of the FDA recommended daily intake of added sugar.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 13-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-25 - print number 685b [A00685 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A00685-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 685--B 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 11, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. DINOWITZ, SIMON, COLTON, STECK, SEAWRIGHT, L. ROSENTHAL, GLICK, JACKSON, RAGA, REYES, KELLES -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. COOK -- read once and referred to the Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- recommitted to the Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit- tee AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to the labeling of high-sugar beverages with warnings The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "high-sugar beverages safety warning act". 3 § 2. The agriculture and markets law is amended by adding a new 4 section 204-e to read as follows: 5 § 204-e. Labeling of high-sugar beverages. 1. For the purposes of this 6 section: 7 (a) "Beverage container" means any sealed or unsealed container 8 regardless of size or shape including, but not limited to, those made of 9 glass, metal, paper, plastic, or any other material or combination of 10 materials that is used or intended to be used to hold a high-sugar 11 beverage for individual sale to a consumer. 12 (b) "Beverage dispensing machine" means any device that mixes concen- 13 trate with any one or more other ingredients, and dispenses the result- 14 ing mixture into an unsealed container as a ready-to-drink beverage. 15 (c) "Caloric sweetener" means any substance containing calories, suit- 16 able for human consumption, and shall include, but not be limited to, 17 sucrose, fructose, glucose, and other sugars and fruit juice concen- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00578-05-4A. 685--B 2 1 trates. "Caloric" means a substance that adds calories to the diet of 2 the individual who consumes such substance. 3 (d) "Concentrate" means a syrup or powder that is used or intended to 4 be used for mixing, compounding or making a high-sugar beverage. 5 (e) "Consumer" means an individual who purchases a high-sugar beverage 6 for a purpose other than resale. 7 (f) "Distribute" means to sell or otherwise provide a product to any 8 person for resale. 9 (g) "Menu or menu board" means the primary writing of a public food 10 service establishment, as defined in subdivision three of section thir- 11 teen hundred ninety-nine-n of the public health law, from which a 12 consumer makes an order selection, which can be in different forms such 13 as booklets, pamphlets, or single sheets of paper, or published on an 14 online site, and can be located inside, outside, or on the website of 15 such public food service establishment or on a related software applica- 16 tion designed for food delivery. 17 (h) "Natural fruit juice" means the original liquid resulting from the 18 pressing of fruit, the liquid resulting from the reconstitution of 19 natural fruit juice concentrate or the liquid resulting from the resto- 20 ration of water to dehydrated natural fruit juice. 21 (i) "Natural vegetable juice" means the original liquid resulting from 22 the pressing of vegetables, the liquid resulting from the reconstitution 23 of natural vegetable juice concentrate or the liquid resulting from the 24 restoration of water to dehydrated natural vegetable juice. 25 (j) "Powder" means a solid mixture with added caloric sweetener used 26 in making, mixing or compounding a high-sugar beverage by mixing such 27 solid mixture with any one or more other ingredients including, but not 28 limited to, water, ice, syrup, simple syrup, fruits, vegetables, fruit 29 juice, or carbonation or other gas. 30 (k) "Principal display panel" means the part of a label that is most 31 likely to be displayed, presented, shown or examined under customary 32 conditions of display for retail sale. 33 (l) "Sealed beverage container" means a beverage container holding a 34 beverage that is dispensed into its container and closed or sealed off 35 the premises where the beverage is purchased. 36 (m) (1) "High-sugar beverage" means any sweetened nonalcoholic bever- 37 age, carbonated or noncarbonated, sold for human consumption that has 38 added caloric sweeteners and which contains one hundred percent or more 39 of the Food and Drug Administration's daily value for added sugars. 40 (2) Such term shall not include: 41 (A) any beverage containing one hundred percent natural fruit juice or 42 natural vegetable juice with no added caloric sweeteners; 43 (B) any liquid product manufactured for any of the following uses and 44 commonly referred to as a "dietary aid": 45 (i) an oral nutritional therapy for persons who cannot absorb or meta- 46 bolize dietary nutrients from food or beverages, 47 (ii) a source of necessary nutrition used as a result of a medical 48 condition, or 49 (iii) an oral electrolyte solution for infants and children formulated 50 to prevent dehydration due to illness; 51 (C) any product for consumption by infants and that is commonly 52 referred to as "infant formula"; 53 (D) any beverage whose principal ingredient by weight is milk; or 54 (E) any alcoholic beverage that is subject to regulation by the alco- 55 holic beverage control law.A. 685--B 3 1 (n) "Syrup" means a liquid mixture with added caloric sweetener used 2 in making, mixing or compounding a high-sugar beverage by mixing such 3 liquid mixture with any one or more other ingredients, including, but 4 not limited to, water, ice, a powder, simple syrup, fruits, vegetables, 5 fruit juice, vegetable juice, or carbonation or other gas. 6 (o) "Unsealed beverage container" means a beverage container into 7 which a beverage is dispensed or poured at the premises where the bever- 8 age is purchased including, but not limited to, a container for fountain 9 drinks. 10 2. (a) No person shall distribute, sell or offer for sale a high-sugar 11 beverage in a sealed beverage container unless such container bears the 12 following safety warning and otherwise meets all of the requirements of 13 this subdivision: 14 "SAFETY WARNING: This beverage contains 100% or more of the FDA's 15 recommended daily intake of added sugar." 16 (b) The safety warning required by paragraph (a) of this subdivision 17 shall be displayed in a clear and conspicuous manner and readily legible 18 under ordinary conditions on the principal display panel of the sealed 19 beverage container, separate and apart from all other information, and 20 shall be on a contrasting background. The entire safety warning shall 21 appear in bold type. 22 (c) If the safety warning required by paragraph (a) of this subdivi- 23 sion is not printed directly on the beverage container, the safety warn- 24 ing shall be affixed to the beverage container in such a manner that it 25 cannot be removed without thorough application of water or other 26 solvents. 27 (d) No person shall distribute, sell or offer for sale a multipack of 28 high-sugar beverages in sealed beverage containers unless the multipack 29 of beverages bears the safety warning required by paragraph (a) of this 30 subdivision. The safety warning shall be posted in a clear and conspicu- 31 ous manner on the principal display panel and on at least one other side 32 of the multipack, in addition to being posted on each individual sealed 33 beverage container. 34 (e) No person shall distribute, sell or offer for sale a concentrate 35 unless the packaging of the concentrate, which is intended for retail 36 sale, bears the safety warning required by paragraph (a) of this subdi- 37 vision. The safety warning shall be posted in a clear and conspicuous 38 manner on the principal display panel of the packaging of the concen- 39 trate. 40 (f) This subdivision shall not be construed to require the safety 41 warning required by paragraph (a) of this subdivision to be placed imme- 42 diately preceding any common name or primary product descriptor. 43 3. (a) Every person who owns, leases or otherwise controls the prem- 44 ises where a vending machine or beverage dispensing machine is located, 45 or where a high-sugar beverage is sold in an unsealed beverage contain- 46 er, shall place or cause to be placed, a safety warning in each of the 47 following locations: 48 (1) on the exterior of any vending machine that includes a high-sugar 49 beverage for sale; 50 (2) on the exterior of any beverage dispensing machine used by a 51 consumer to dispense a high-sugar beverage through self-service; and 52 (3) at the point-of-purchase, which may include the menu or menu 53 board, where any consumer purchases a high-sugar beverage in an unsealed 54 beverage container, when the unsealed beverage container is filled by an 55 employee of a food establishment rather than the consumer; provided, 56 however, this subparagraph shall not apply unless the premises where aA. 685--B 4 1 beverage dispensing machine is located, or where the high-sugar beverage 2 is sold in an unsealed beverage container is part of a network of 3 subsidiaries, affiliates or other member stores, under direct or indi- 4 rect common control, with three or more stores located in New York. 5 (b) The safety warning required by paragraph (a) of this subdivision 6 shall contain the following language: 7 "SAFETY WARNING: The Food and Drug Administration recommends limit- 8 ing added sugars to 50 grams per day based on a 2,000 calorie diet." 9 (c) The safety warning required by paragraph (a) of this subdivision 10 shall be displayed in a clear and conspicuous manner and readily legible 11 under ordinary conditions, separate and apart from all other informa- 12 tion, and shall be on a contrasting background. The entire safety warn- 13 ing shall appear in bold type. 14 4. (a) Whenever it shall appear that there has been a violation of 15 this section, an application may be made by the attorney general in the 16 name of the people of the state of New York to a court or justice having 17 jurisdiction by a special proceeding to issue an injunction, and upon 18 notice to the defendant of not less than five days, to enjoin and 19 restrain the continuance of such violation; and if it shall appear to 20 the satisfaction of the court or justice that the defendant has, in 21 fact, violated this article, an injunction may be issued by such court 22 or justice, enjoining and restraining any further violation, without 23 requiring proof that any person has, in fact, been injured or damaged 24 thereby. In any such proceeding, the court may make allowances to the 25 attorney general as provided in paragraph six of subdivision (a) of 26 section eighty-three hundred three of the civil practice law and rules, 27 and direct restitution. Whenever the court shall determine that a 28 violation of this article has occurred, the court may impose a civil 29 penalty of not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred 30 dollars for each such violation. In connection with any such proposed 31 application, the attorney general is authorized to take proof and make a 32 determination of the relevant facts and to issue subpoenas in accordance 33 with the civil practice law and rules. 34 (b) The provisions of this section may be enforced concurrently by the 35 director of a municipal consumer affairs office, or by the town attor- 36 ney, city corporation counsel, or other lawful designee of a munici- 37 pality or local government, and all moneys collected under this section 38 shall be retained by such municipality or local government. 39 5. A retailer shall not be subject to the penalties under this section 40 unless: (a) the retailer is the manufacturer of the high-sugar beverage, 41 the packager of a multipack of high-sugar beverages in sealed beverage 42 containers, or the manufacturer of a concentrate and sells the high-su- 43 gar beverage, multipack of high-sugar beverages, or concentrate under a 44 brand it owns; or (b) the retailer's failure to label was knowing and 45 willful. 46 § 3. Severability clause. If any provision of this act or its appli- 47 cation to any person, legal entity, or circumstance is held invalid, the 48 remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other 49 persons, legal entities or circumstances shall not be affected. 50 § 4. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a 51 law.
