Testimony, Photos and Video from the Senate Health Committee Hearing on Food Policy in New York State

Thomas K. Duane

January 26, 2010

On Friday, January 22, Senator Thomas K. Duane held a public hearing of the Senate Health Committee on the topic of Food Policy in New York State.  Senator Duane was joined by at the hearing, held in New York City, by Health Committee ranking member Kemp Hannon and Senator Martin Golden.

The hearing brought together representatives from health care industry and public health experts, and the food and beverage industries as well as consumers and hunger advocates to receive input and listen to feedback on three policy approaches to combating obesity in New York State:

(1)  Calorie Labeling (S6438) would require chain restaurants to post the caloric value of all items on their menus;

(2)  A Trans Fat Ban (S6437) would prohibit restaurants from utilizing any  artificial trans fats in the preparation or cooking of any food item and from serving any food containing artificial trans fats;

(3)  A Sweetened Beverage Excise (S6644) would impose an excise on sweetened beverage manufacturers. 

The goal of these three bills is to raise awareness about the importance of diet and the link to obesity, to reduce the intake of calories, trans fats, and sweetened beverages, and to improve the health of New Yorkers.

To view video of this hearing, please tune in at 5:00 PM on Wednesday, February 3, to any 5 of the channels listed in the cable stations document enclosed below.

To view individual submitted testimonies, please see below:

Thomas Farley: New York City

Richard Daines: New York State

Julie Greenstein: Center for Science in the Public Interest

Elizabeth Whelan: American Council on Science and Health

Michael Rosen: Food Industry Alliance of New York

Patrick Purcell: UFCW 1500

Nelson Eusebio: National Supermarket Association

Ramon Murphy:The Bodega Association of the United States

Marcus Ferguson: Business Council of NY State

Melissa Fleischut: NYS Restaurant Association

Mark Krotowski: NYS Academy of Family Physicians

Kris Kim: American Cancer Society

Laurie Tansman: Mt. Sinai Medical Center

Wahida Karmally: American Diabetes Association

Robin Vitale: American Heart Association

Joan Siegel: Citizens' Committee for Children of NY

Nancy Huehnergarth: NYS Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Alliance

Liz Morrill: Fizzy Lizzy

Jim McGreevy: American Beverage Association

Danielle Greenberg: PepsiCo

Kevin Dietly: Northbridge Environmental Management Consultants

Mark Dunlea: Hunger Action Network

Joel Berg: New York City Coalition Against Hunger

Triada Stampas: Food Bank for New York City

NYC Food and Fitness Partnership

Maggie Meehan: NY State Dietetic Association

Audrae Erickson Corn Refiners Association

Chirag Raval: Colin Powell Center for Policy Studies.pdf

Deborah Lewison-Grant: Food Fight

James Calvin: NY Association of Convenience Stores

Joann Casado: The Bronx Health Link

John O'Neil: Teamsters Joint Council 16

James Calvin: NYAssociation of Convenience Stores

Abraham Jelin American Academy of Pediatrics

Ana Garcia: The New York Academy of Medicine

Michael Seserman: New York State Public Health Association

James Knickman: New York State Health Foundation

Wendy's Arby's Group

The American Cancer Society

CUNY Institute for Health Equity

Karp Resources