HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4558

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, March 12, 2020.

The committee on Public Health, to whom was referred the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1846) of Ruth B. Balser and others  for legislation to establish a commission (including members of the General Court) to study the need to reduce salt and sugar content in meals served in restaurants, schools, and public spaces, reports recommending that the accompanying bill (House, No. 4558) ought to pass.

For the committee,

JOHN J. MAHONEY.

        FILED ON: 2/28/2020

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4558

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)

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An Act creating a commission to study the need to reduce salt and sugar content in meals served in restaurants, schools, and public spaces.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1: There shall be a commission to study the relationship between high sodium and sugar content in meals served in restaurants, schools, hospitals, worksites, government buildings, and other places of public accommodation and its impact on public health.

The commission shall consist of the Commissioner of Public Health, or her designee; the House and Senate Chairs of the Joint Committee on Public Health, or their designees; the House and Senate Chairs of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing or their designees; and the following nine members, each of whom shall have expertise in the field of nutrition and dietetics, whom the Governor shall appoint: a representative of the food industry; a representative from the area of meal preparation for public schools in the Commonwealth; a representative in the area of food services at health care facilities; a representative from the medical community with specialization in cardiology; a representative from the medical community with specialization in endocrinology; a representative from the medical community with specialization in kidney disease; a representative from the medical community with specialization in gastroenterology; a representative who is an expert in nutrition and dietetics who is a faculty member at a college or university in Massachusetts; a representative from the health insurance industry; and a representative from the non-profit community in the field of education and advocacy for the accommodation of foods for individuals that have been prescribed a special diet because of a chronic medical condition or a food allergy.

The commission shall study the impacts of sugar and sodium in meals sold or provided in restaurants, schools, hospitals, work sites, government buildings, and other public spaces on public health in the Commonwealth. The commission shall make recommendations regarding the actions required to educate food providers and the public about these impacts. In addition, the commission shall consider issues related to health, healthcare, disparities in nutrition, and costs to the individual, community, and medical system, that arise because of elevated sodium and added sugars in foods sold and served in public spaces in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The Commission shall publish its findings and recommendations, together with drafts of legislation, if any, necessary to carry those recommendations into effect, in a written report no later than 2 years after the effective date of this act. The report shall be  filed with the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, the house and senate committees on ways and means, the joint committee on public health, and the joint committee on healthcare financing.