[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3624 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3624

  To direct the Commissioner of Food and Drugs to revise the Federal 
regulations applicable to the declaration of the trans fat content of a 
food on the label and in the labeling of the food when such content is 
                          less than 0.5 gram.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 22, 2013

  Mr. Israel introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To direct the Commissioner of Food and Drugs to revise the Federal 
regulations applicable to the declaration of the trans fat content of a 
food on the label and in the labeling of the food when such content is 
                          less than 0.5 gram.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Trans Fat Truth in Labeling Act of 
2013''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies 
        advises the United States Government on nutritional science for 
        use in the formation of public policy, including product 
        labeling programs.
            (2) In 2002, the Institute of Medicine--
                    (A) issued recommended dietary reference intake 
                amounts for energy, carbohydrates, fiber, fat, fatty 
                acids, cholesterol, protein, and amino acids; and
                    (B) made recommendations regarding consumption of 
                trans fat.
            (3) These recommendations included the following statement: 
        ``trans fatty acids are not essential and provide no known 
        benefit to human health''.
            (4) The Institute of Medicine concluded that--
                    (A) both saturated and trans fats increase levels 
                of LDL cholesterol; and
                    (B) trans fats may also lower levels of HDL 
                cholesterol.
            (5) A 2006 New England Journal of Medicine scientific 
        review stated that ``from a nutritional standpoint, the 
        consumption of trans fatty acids results in considerable 
        potential harm but no apparent benefit''.
            (6) Based on this overwhelming scientific evidence, in 
        2013, the Food and Drug Administration issued a preliminary 
        determination that partially hydrogenated oils, which are the 
        primary dietary source of artificial trans fats, are not 
        ``generally recognized as safe'' for use as an ingredient in 
        food.
            (7) Notwithstanding such preliminary determination, certain 
        foods will still contain a certain level of naturally-occurring 
        trans fats, and current laws and regulations, which only 
        require that the labeling of food containing a certain 
        threshold amount of trans fats bear that fact, will remain in 
        effect.

SEC. 3. DECLARATION OF TRANS FAT CONTENT OF LESS THAN 0.5 GRAM PER 
              SERVING ON THE LABEL OR IN THE LABELING OF FOOD.

    (a) Requirement.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of Food and Drugs shall 
promulgate a final regulation, revising section 101.9(c)(2)(ii) of 
title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations and such other regulatory 
provisions as may be necessary, to--
            (1) require that the nutrition information on the label or 
        labeling on an applicable food contain an asterisk or another 
        similar notation and a note to indicate that the food has a low 
        trans fat content per serving; and
            (2) prohibit the label or labeling on an applicable food 
        from indicating that trans fat content per serving is zero.
    (b) Applicable Food.--For purposes of this section, the term 
``applicable food'' means a food for which--
            (1) the trans fat content of a serving of the food is less 
        than 0.5 gram and greater than 0.0 gram; and
            (2) the trans fat content of a serving of the food is 
        declared in the nutrition information on the label or in the 
        labeling of the food.
    (c) Effective Date.--The regulation promulgated under subsection 
(a) shall take effect on the date that is 18 months after the date of 
the enactment of this Act.
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