Florida Senate - 2013                                    SB 1728
       
       
       
       By Senator Sachs
       
       
       
       
       34-01304-13                                           20131728__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to genetically engineered foods;
    3         creating s. 500.90, F.S.; providing definitions;
    4         providing a list of commercial commodities commonly
    5         cultivated in genetically engineered form and
    6         requiring the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
    7         Services to publish the list by a specified date and
    8         to update the published list annually; providing
    9         mandatory labeling requirements for genetically
   10         engineered raw agricultural commodities and processed
   11         foods made with or derived from genetically engineered
   12         ingredients; exempting specified foods, commodities,
   13         ingredients, and other substances from the labeling
   14         requirements; authorizing the department to adopt
   15         rules; providing for the enforcement of the labeling
   16         requirements; providing civil remedies and penalties;
   17         providing an effective date.
   18  
   19         WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that consumers should have
   20  the right to know whether the foods they purchase contain
   21  genetically engineered material, and
   22         WHEREAS, manipulating genes and inserting them into
   23  organisms is an imprecise process that produces results that are
   24  not always predictable or controllable, and could lead to
   25  adverse health or environmental consequences, and
   26         WHEREAS, mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods
   27  can provide a critical method for tracking the potentially
   28  dangerous health effects of consuming genetically engineered
   29  foods, and
   30         WHEREAS, currently, there is no federal requirement
   31  mandating disclosure of genetically engineered foods on food
   32  labels, and
   33         WHEREAS, the vast majority of the public wants labels on
   34  genetically engineered foods, and
   35         WHEREAS, countries around the world, including the European
   36  Union member states, Japan, and other key United States trading
   37  partners, have laws mandating disclosure of genetically
   38  engineered foods on food labels, and
   39         WHEREAS, no international agreements prohibit the mandatory
   40  labeling of genetically engineered foods, and
   41         WHEREAS, without mandatory labeling of genetically
   42  engineered foods, consumers may unknowingly violate their own
   43  dietary and religious principles, and
   44         WHEREAS, the cultivation of genetically engineered crops
   45  can negatively impact the environment, in some cases
   46  necessitating the use of increasingly toxic herbicides that can
   47  damage agricultural areas, impair drinking water, and pose
   48  health risks to consumers and farmworkers, and
   49         WHEREAS, consumers should have the choice to avoid
   50  purchasing foods that could cause adverse health and
   51  environmental effects, and
   52         WHEREAS, public confidence in organic food products may
   53  erode as organic farmers’ crops are regularly threatened with
   54  accidental contamination by contaminated seed and neighboring
   55  lands where genetically engineered crops abound, and consumers
   56  should have the choice to avoid purchasing foods that could harm
   57  the state’s organic farmers and food industry, NOW THEREFORE,
   58  
   59  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   60  
   61         Section 1. Section 500.90, Florida Statutes, is created to
   62  read:
   63         500.90 Genetically engineered foods.—
   64         (1) As used in this section, the term:
   65         (a) “Cultivated commercially” means grown or raised by a
   66  person in the course of a business or trade.
   67         (b) “Enzyme” means a protein that catalyzes chemical
   68  reactions of other substances without itself being destroyed or
   69  altered upon completion of the reactions.
   70         (c) “Food facility” means an operation that stores,
   71  prepares, packages, serves, vends, or otherwise provides food
   72  for human consumption at the retail level, including an
   73  operation where food is consumed on or off the premises,
   74  regardless of whether there is a charge for the food.
   75         (d) “Genetically engineered” means any food that consists
   76  of, is composed of, contains, or is produced from an organism or
   77  organisms in which the genetic material has been changed through
   78  the application of:
   79         1. In vitro nucleic acid techniques, including recombinant
   80  deoxyribonucleic acid techniques and the direct injection of
   81  nucleic acid into cells or organelles. Such techniques include,
   82  but are not limited to, recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid or
   83  ribonucleic acid techniques that use vector systems and
   84  techniques involving the direct introduction into the organisms
   85  of hereditary material prepared outside the organisms such as
   86  micro-injection, macro-injection, chemoporation,
   87  electroporation, microencapsulation, and liposome fusion; or
   88         2. Fusion of cells, including protoplast fusion, or
   89  hybridization techniques that overcome natural physiological,
   90  reproductive, or recombination barriers, where the donor cells
   91  or protoplasts do not fall within the same taxonomic family, in
   92  a way that does not occur by natural multiplication or natural
   93  recombination.
   94         (e) “Ingredient” means any substance that is used in the
   95  manufacture, or contained in the final form, of a processed
   96  food.
   97         (f) “Processed food” means any food other than a raw
   98  agricultural commodity and includes any food produced from a raw
   99  agricultural commodity that has been subject to processing such
  100  as canning, smoking, pressing, cooking, freezing, dehydration,
  101  fermentation, or milling.
  102         (g) “Processing aid” means:
  103         1. A substance that is added to a food during the
  104  processing of the food but is removed in the same manner from
  105  the food before it is packaged in its finished form.
  106         2. A substance that is added to a food during processing,
  107  is converted into constituents normally present in the food, and
  108  does not significantly increase the amount of the constituents
  109  naturally found in the food.
  110         3. A substance that is added to a food for its technical or
  111  functional effects in the processing but is present in the
  112  finished food at insignificant levels and does not have any
  113  technical or functional effect in that finished food.
  114         (2)(a) The Legislature finds that the following raw
  115  agricultural commodities are commonly cultivated commercially in
  116  genetically engineered form:
  117         1. Alfalfa.
  118         2. Canola.
  119         3. Corn.
  120         4. Cotton.
  121         5. Papaya.
  122         6. Soy.
  123         7. Sugar beets.
  124         8. Zucchini and yellow summer squash.
  125         (b) By January 1, 2014, and annually thereafter, the
  126  department shall publish an updated list of additional raw
  127  agricultural commodities that are commonly cultivated
  128  commercially in genetically engineered form. The list must be
  129  based on the most current available information.
  130         (3)(a) Beginning January 1, 2014, any genetically
  131  engineered raw agricultural commodity that is offered for retail
  132  sale must include a clear and conspicuous statement with the
  133  words “genetically engineered” on the front package or label of
  134  any such commodity. For such a commodity that is not separately
  135  packaged or labeled, the statement must appear on a label on the
  136  retail store shelf or bin where the commodity is displayed for
  137  sale.
  138         (b) Beginning January 1, 2014, any package offered for
  139  retail sale containing processed food that is made with or
  140  derived from any genetically engineered ingredient must include
  141  a clear and conspicuous statement on the front or back of the
  142  package with the words “contains genetically engineered
  143  ingredients,” followed by the name of the genetically engineered
  144  ingredient or ingredients. If an ingredients list appears on the
  145  package, the statement must appear underneath the ingredients
  146  list. For a processed food containing more than one genetically
  147  engineered ingredient, the genetically engineered ingredients
  148  listed after the statement must be listed in the same order in
  149  which they appear in the full ingredients list.
  150         (c) In lieu of compliance with paragraph (b), any package
  151  containing processed food that is made with or derived from any
  152  ingredient that may be genetically engineered must include a
  153  clear and conspicuous statement on the front or back of the
  154  package with the words “may contain genetically engineered
  155  ingredients,” followed by the name of the genetically engineered
  156  ingredient or ingredients. If an ingredients list appears on the
  157  package, the statement must appear underneath the ingredients
  158  list. For a processed food containing more than one ingredient
  159  that may be genetically engineered, the genetically engineered
  160  ingredients listed after the statement must be listed in the
  161  same order in which they appear in the full ingredients list.
  162         (d) This subsection does not apply to:
  163         1. A raw agricultural commodity that, on the date it is
  164  offered for retail sale, is not listed in paragraph (2)(a) or in
  165  the most recent list published pursuant to paragraph (2)(b).
  166         2. A processed food that does not contain an ingredient
  167  derived from a raw agricultural commodity that, on the date the
  168  processed food is manufactured, is listed in either paragraph
  169  (2)(a) or in the most recent list published pursuant to
  170  paragraph (2)(b).
  171         3. Food consisting entirely of, or derived entirely from,
  172  an animal that has not itself been genetically engineered,
  173  regardless of whether the animal has been fed or injected with
  174  any genetically engineered food or any drug that has been
  175  produced through means of genetic engineering.
  176         4. A raw agricultural commodity or ingredient that has been
  177  grown, raised, or produced without the knowing and intentional
  178  use of genetically engineered seed or food. The person
  179  responsible for complying with this section must obtain, from
  180  whoever sold the commodity or ingredient to that person, a sworn
  181  statement that the commodity or ingredient has not been
  182  knowingly or intentionally genetically engineered and has been
  183  segregated from and has not been knowingly or intentionally
  184  commingled with, goods that may have been genetically engineered
  185  at any time. In providing such a sworn statement, a person may
  186  rely on a sworn statement from his or her own supplier that
  187  contains such an affirmation.
  188         5. A processed food that would be subject to this section
  189  solely because it includes one or more genetically engineered
  190  processing aids or enzymes.
  191         6. An alcoholic beverage that is subject to regulation
  192  under chapters 561-568.
  193         7. Until January 1, 2015, a processed food that would be
  194  subject to this section solely because it includes one or more
  195  genetically engineered ingredients, if:
  196         a. No single genetically engineered ingredient accounts for
  197  more than one-half of 1 percent of the total weight of the
  198  processed food.
  199         b. The processed food does not contain more than 10
  200  genetically engineered ingredients.
  201         8. As determined by an independent organization, any food
  202  not knowingly and intentionally produced from or commingled with
  203  genetically engineered seed or genetically engineered food, if
  204  such a determination has been made pursuant to a sampling and
  205  testing procedure approved for this purpose in rules adopted by
  206  the department. Such rules may not approve a sampling and
  207  testing procedure unless it is consistent with sampling and
  208  testing principles recommended by internationally recognized
  209  standards organizations.
  210         9. Food that has been lawfully certified to be labeled,
  211  marketed, and offered for sale as organic pursuant to applicable
  212  federal organic food production laws and regulations.
  213         10. Food that is not packaged for retail sale and that is:
  214         a. A processed food prepared and intended for immediate
  215  human consumption; or
  216         b. Served, sold, or otherwise provided in a restaurant or
  217  other food facility that is primarily engaged in the sale of
  218  food prepared and intended for immediate human consumption.
  219         (4)(a) The department may adopt rules to administer this
  220  section.
  221         (b) The department may bring an action in a court of
  222  competent jurisdiction to enjoin a person violating this
  223  section.
  224         (c) The department may assess a civil penalty against a
  225  person violating this section in an amount not to exceed $1,000
  226  per day. Each day of violation is considered a separate
  227  violation.
  228         (d) An action to enjoin a violation of this section may be
  229  brought in any court of competent jurisdiction by any person in
  230  the public interest if the department has commenced an action
  231  against the alleged violation and the action is commenced more
  232  than 60 days after the person has given notice of the alleged
  233  violation to the department and the alleged violator.
  234         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2013.