Senate Bill sb0306

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    Florida Senate - 2004                                   SB 306

    By Senator Margolis





    35-115-04

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to nutrition in elementary and

  3         secondary schools; providing a short title;

  4         providing nutritional standards for food that

  5         is available to school children on school

  6         campuses and that is sold for fundraising

  7         purposes; requiring district school boards to

  8         approve all food sold on school campuses or

  9         sold for fundraising purposes; authorizing the

10         Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

11         to impose a fine against a school

12         superintendent or other supervisory personnel

13         for violations of the act; amending s. 500.121,

14         F.S.; authorizing the department to impose a

15         fine against a food manufacturer, processor,

16         packer, or distributor that misrepresents

17         nutritional information on food labels;

18         providing an effective date.

19  

20         WHEREAS, in the United States approximately 300,000

21  deaths per year are currently associated with health

22  conditions that are caused or exacerbated by obesity, and the

23  total direct and indirect costs attributed to this condition

24  amounted to $117 billion in the year 2000, and

25         WHEREAS, obesity among this state's adults nearly

26  doubled from 1986 to 2000, while the number of overweight

27  adolescents has tripled, and

28         WHEREAS, 14.2 percent of this state's high school

29  students are at risk of being overweight and 10.4 percent are

30  overweight; 13.2 percent of girls are at risk of being

31  overweight and 6.8 percent are overweight; and 15.1 percent of

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    Florida Senate - 2004                                   SB 306
    35-115-04




 1  boys are at risk of being overweight and 13.7 percent are

 2  overweight, and

 3         WHEREAS, during meal periods, federal regulations

 4  prohibit the sale of certain foods in the food service area of

 5  a school which are of minimal nutritional value, NOW,

 6  THEREFORE,

 7  

 8  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

 9  

10         Section 1.  Short title.--This act may be cited as the

11  "Childhood Obesity Prevention Act."

12         Section 2.  Regulation of food sold on school campuses

13  and for fundraising purposes; penalties.--

14         (1)  Effective for the 2004-2005 school year, food that

15  is sold a la carte or in vending machines on any public school

16  campus must meet the following criteria:

17         (a)  From one-half hour before school begins to

18  one-half hour after the end of the school day, only the

19  following beverages may be sold to students on campus:

20         1.  Any fruit juice or fruit-juice based drink that

21  contains at least 30 percent fruit juice.

22         2.  Drinking water.

23         3.  Low-fat, reduced-fat, and fat-free milk, including,

24  but not limited to, chocolate milk, strawberry milk, soy milk,

25  nondairy milk, and rice milk.

26         (b)  From one-half hour before school begins to

27  one-half hour after the end of the school day, the following

28  snacks may not be sold to students on campus:

29         1.  Any food that is of minimal nutritional value, as

30  defined in 7 C.F.R. s. 210.11(a)(2), or snacks that do not

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2004                                   SB 306
    35-115-04




 1  contain whole grain, enriched or fortified grains, or grain

 2  products.

 3         2.  Any food that contains 35 percent of the total

 4  calories from added sugars, excluding those sugars that are

 5  naturally occurring.

 6         (c)  Beverages or food that is sold as a fundraising

 7  tool by a school club, organization, or association must meet

 8  the requirements of paragraphs (a) and (b).

 9         (2)  Each district school board shall regulate the

10  vending machines located on school campuses. The district

11  school board must approve all food sold in vending machines or

12  a la carte on school campuses or sold as fundraising tools to

13  ensure that the food meets the requirements under subsection

14  (1).

15         (3)  The Department of Agriculture and Consumer

16  Services may impose a fine not exceeding $500 per offense

17  against the school superintendent or the person responsible

18  for supervising the club, organization, or association if a

19  school stocks items in a vending machine or if a club,

20  organization, or association sells food as a fundraising tool

21  in violation of subsection (1).  The fine shall be deposited

22  by the department in the Nutrition Education Trust Fund.

23         Section 3.  Subsection (2) of section 500.121, Florida

24  Statutes, is amended to read:

25         500.121  Disciplinary procedures.--

26         (2)(a)  Any manufacturer, processor, packer, or

27  distributor who misrepresents or mislabels the country of

28  origin of any food may, in addition to any penalty provided in

29  this chapter, be subject to an additional administrative fine

30  of up to $10,000 per violation.

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2004                                   SB 306
    35-115-04




 1         (b)  The Department of Agriculture and Consumer

 2  Services may impose a fine not exceeding $10,000 against any

 3  manufacturer, processor, packer, or distributor that

 4  misrepresents nutritional information on food labels, which

 5  fine, when imposed and paid, shall be deposited in the

 6  Nutrition Education Trust Fund.

 7         Section 4.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2004.

 8  

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10                          SENATE SUMMARY

11    Creates the Childhood Obesity Prevention Act. Provides
      for nutritional standards for food that is available to
12    school children on school campuses. Requires district
      school boards to approve all food sold on public school
13    campuses or sold for fundraising purposes. Provides for
      penalties.
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