Is your favorite restaurant dish high in sodium or sugar content? Should food dyes be phased out of school meals?
And should there be more restrictions on marketing food to children and teens?
Advocates in Albany are pushing for new laws on all those topics — seeking momentum after lawmakers passed a landmark food transparency bill this session.
“Something that we have heard for years and years and years is that people want healthier food,” said Mike Bulger, with the Rochester Food Policy Council. “They're concerned about the junk food that's flooding their neighborhoods. They're concerned about what's being fed and marketed to their kids.”
The bill on sodium content passed the Senate last week and is pending before an Assembly committee.
“And what we're talking about is the impact that has on the health of individuals and then communities as a whole,” said Sen. Gustavo Rivera, D-Bronx, chairman of the Senate Health Committee. "Whether we're talking about high, high rates of obesity, of diabetes, of heart disease, of hypertension, all of these things are made worse by what we have in front of us every single day.”
The Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act passed the Assembly late last month, after passing the Senate earlier this year.
It would ban three food additives that have been linked to cancer and other health problems in Europe. It also would require makers of packaged foods to disclose more information about additives and ingredients generally regarded as safe, known as GRAS.
Food industry groups fiercely lobbied against the bill and are urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to veto it.
“The legislation would create a duplicative state-level mandate for food ingredients already deemed safe under rigorous federal GRAS standards, costing the state alone $21 million over three years,” said Tara L. Martin, a spokesperson for the industry-backed group New Yorkers for Safe and Affordable Groceries. “Analysts warn that the legislation could cause grocery prices to rise as much as 6%, hitting low-income households and working families hardest at a time when they’re already struggling to pay for food, rent and transportation.”
But those who support the legislation said they were undaunted by the industry’s efforts.
“They're pouring a ton of money into fighting this bill. We passed it anyways, and they're going to do the same with Gov. Hochul,” said Meghan Enslow, a policy associate with the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “But we have a coalition of people across New York who are fighting to get this bill passed.”
The other bills are pending in committee, but there isn’t much time for them to pass through the Legislature. The budget still hasn’t been voted on, and this year’s session is set to end June 4.
