BILL NUMBER:S3468

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the education law, in relation to
the prohibition of the sale of certain foods in vending machines on
school grounds or property

PURPOSE:
To combat childhood obesity by restricting the availability of foods
of minimal nutritional value.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends the Education Law by adding a new Section 915-a
prohibiting the sale of certain foods in vending machines. No vending
machine on the grounds of any public school or on any public school
property shall make available for sale to pupils food and drinks of
minimal nutritional value, including but not limited to the following:

a. Candy including hard candy and chocolate candy, jellies, gums,
marshmallow candies, fondant, licorice, spun candy and candy covered
popcorn.

b. Carbonated water with added sweeteners, or beverages that contain
caffeine or sweeteners.
However the new section expressly does not limit on the sale of
              

chocolate mild, flavored mild, soy or rice milk, or juice with
sweeteners produced from natural sources, the term "sweetener" is
defined to include any additive that enhances the sweetness of a
beverage including artificial sweeteners such as aspartame,
acesulfame K and saccharin.

The terms of any contract entered into between a school district and a
business or corporation for the operation of a vending machine or the
granting of exclusive rights shall comply with the provisions of this
section. If a school district is a party to a contract which provides
for periodic renewals, the term of such renewal must comply with the
provisions of this section.

Section 2 provides that this act shall take effect on July first after
the date on which it becomes law. However, the provisions of this act
shall not affect any contract entered into on or before the effective
date.

JUSTIFICATION:
Childhood obesity is too common. An estimated 15% of American children
are overweight three times the number of overweight children reported
in 1980. The primary causes are decreased physical exercise and
increased consumption of junk foods and drinks. In some cases, the
change in habits is dramatic. An article published in The Lancet in
2001 found that soft-drink consumptions had increased by almost 500%
over the past fifty years. Their study found that "the odds of
becoming obese increased significantly for each additional daily
serving of sugar sweetened drinks. Being too heavy is expensive as
well as bad for you. According to an article in the Medical Journal
Pediatrics, overweight kids incur disproportionate healthcare costs;


over the last twenty years, "obesity associated annual hospital costs
increase more than three-fold, from $35 million during 1979-1981 to
$127 million during 1997-1999." If we fail to address this issue, we
will have a future generation plagues with Type II Diabetes, sleep
apnea, gallbladder disease, and heart problems. Sick children grow
into sick adults, whose healthcare needs disrupt their families and
strain their budgets - or the budgets of our public Medicare and
Medicaid insurance programs. It is smarter,
cheaper and kinder to prevent childhood obesity than to treat
its complications. As a first step, we should assure that our schools
are places where children learn to live healthy lives, free of junk
food.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.5882 and S.4940 of 2005/2006 A.6563-B and S.5446-A of 2003/2004
A.10419 of 2010 Referred to Education Committee
S.7756 of 2010 Referred to Education Committee

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Potential savings in Medicaid cost.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
July 1st after the act becomes law.