NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5207
SPONSOR: Reyes TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring chain
restaurants to label menu items that have a high content of sodium
PURPOSE OF BILL:
To require chain restaurants to label menu items that have a high
content of sodium.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends the public health law by adding a new section 1357 as
it relates to chain restaurants and the sodium content of menu items.
The bill requires chain restaurants to place a sodium warning icon next
to any standard menu item that exceeds the daily value for sodium. In
this section terms such as chain menu developer, chain restaurants,
daily value, food service establishment, menu or menu board, and stand-
ard menu item are defined. The department of health shall develop an
icon with accompanying text to indicate high sodium and shall publish
guidance explaining the requirements of the section and how businesses
can comply. This section also establishes reporting requirements,
violations, and exemptions. Non-compliance of this section shall be
subject to a civil penalty of up to $250 for each location that is in
violation of the section.
Section 2 provides a severability clause.
Section 3 provides the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that a person
consume less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day. However, Americans eat on
average about 3,400 mg of sodium per day. High sodium intake is one of
the greatest food-related health problems in the nation, contributing to
health problems such as high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke.
Studies have shown that the vast majority of dietary salt comes from
processed foods and foods eaten outside of the home, such as food served
at restaurants.
While several companies have voluntarily made efforts to reduce salt in
table foods, the FDA continues to press the food industry to reduce
sodium content. This bill seeks to reduce the daily sodium intake of New
Yorkers by requiring the labeling of restaurant items which exceed the
recommended daily value for sodium as recommended by the FDA. With these
new guidelines, New Yorkers can make more informed choices about foods
to order for themselves and their families.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2019-2020: A3871A Ortiz / S49030A Rivera
2020-2021: No Same-As / S2532 Rivera
2021-2022: A8860-8 Reyes /52532B Rivera
2023-2024: A6529A Reyes / S4890A Rivera
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5207
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 12, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. REYES, ANDERSON, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, ROSENTHAL, MEEKS
-- read once and referred to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring chain
restaurants to label menu items that have a high content of sodium
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section
2 1357 to read as follows:
3 § 1357. Chain restaurants; sodium content of menu items. 1. Defi-
4 nitions. For purposes of this section the following terms shall have the
5 following meanings:
6 a. "Chain menu developer" means the person that owns and licenses the
7 brand name under which a chain restaurant does business, or any other
8 person responsible for determining the formula or recipe for items
9 displayed on the menu of a chain restaurant.
10 b. "Chain restaurant" means a food service establishment, as defined
11 in part fourteen of the New York sanitary code 10 NYCRR 14-1.20, that is
12 part of a chain with fifteen or more locations within the state doing
13 business under the same name, regardless of the type of ownership of the
14 locations, and offering for sale substantially similar menu items.
15 c. "Daily value" means the daily reference value used by the United
16 States Food and Drug Administration in calculating the percent daily
17 value for nutrition information provided on food labels.
18 d. "Menu or menu board" means the primary writing of a food service
19 establishment from which a customer makes an order selection, including,
20 but not limited to, breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus; dessert menus;
21 beverage menus; children's menus; other specialty menus; electronic
22 menus; and menus on the internet.
23 e. "Standard menu item" means a food or beverage item offered for sale
24 by a chain restaurant that is listed on a menu or menu board, including
25 a variable food or beverage item that comes in different flavors, varie-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01666-01-5
A. 5207 2
1 ties, or combinations and is listed as a single item. Standard menu
2 item includes any combination meal for which any combination of food or
3 beverage items available to the consumer exceeds the daily value for
4 sodium. Standard menu item includes temporary menu items appearing on
5 the menu for less than a total of sixty consecutive and non-consecutive
6 days per calendar year.
7 2. Industry guidance. No later than one year after the effective date
8 of this section, the department shall publish guidance explaining the
9 requirements of this section and how businesses can comply.
10 3. Sodium warning icon. No later than one year after the effective
11 date of this section, the department shall develop an icon with accompa-
12 nying text that shall be displayed adjacent to the name of any standard
13 menu item that exceeds the daily value for sodium. Beginning two years
14 after the effective date of this section any chain restaurant operating
15 within the state and not otherwise exempted under subdivision seven of
16 this section shall display on menus or menu boards:
17 a. The sodium warning icon and accompanying text promulgated by the
18 department pursuant to this subdivision, at a height no smaller than the
19 largest letter in the name of the item; and
20 b. The following factual statement explaining the sodium warning icon:
21 "Warning (insert icon image and accompanying text here) indicates that
22 the sodium (salt) content of this item is higher than the total daily
23 recommended limit (2300 mg). High sodium intake can increase blood pres-
24 sure and the risk of heart disease and stroke."
25 4. Chain menu developer reporting requirement. Once every ninety
26 days, each chain menu developer shall report to the department the
27 amount of sodium in each standard menu item offered for sale in their
28 chain restaurant, or that no changes to the menu information have been
29 made since the last report.
30 5. Report required. No later than six years after the effective date
31 of this section, the department shall issue a report reviewing evidence
32 of the impact of this section on menu item reformulation and consumer
33 behavior, and recommend additional nutrients that should be considered
34 for menu warning icons.
35 6. Violations. Any chain restaurant that violates the provisions of
36 this section shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than two
37 hundred fifty dollars per day for each location not in compliance.
38 7. Exemptions. The sodium warning icon required pursuant to subdivi-
39 sion three of this section shall not be required to be displayed next to
40 a menu item that is already labeled with a sodium icon equal or greater
41 in size and similar in general appearance, when such icon is required
42 pursuant to a rule, regulation, ordinance, local law, order or policy
43 issued by another jurisdiction having the same or substantially similar
44 effect as determined by the commissioner. Food service establishments
45 exempted from the sodium warning labeling requirement by this subdivi-
46 sion shall be used in determining if a particular food service estab-
47 lishment is a chain restaurant.
48 § 2. Severability. If any provision of this act, or any application of
49 any provision of this act, is held to be invalid, or to violate or be
50 inconsistent with any federal law or regulation, that shall not affect
51 the validity or effectiveness of any other provision of this act, or of
52 any other application of any provision of this act, which can be given
53 effect without that provision or application; and to that end, the
54 provisions and applications of this act are severable.
55 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
