SF 194 (LSB 1460XS (5) 85)

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:

    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 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 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.
   The bill takes effect 540 days after approval by the governor.