I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1486 

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 

APRIL 12, 2011 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Trans Fat Truth in 

5 Labeling Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Institute of Medicine of the National 

2 Academies advises the United States Government on 

3 nutritional science for use in the formation of public 

4 policy, including product labeling programs. 

5 (2) In 2002, the Institute of Medicine— 

6 (A) issued recommended dietary reference 

7 intake amounts for energy, carbohydrates, fiber, 

8 fat, fatty acids, cholesterol, protein, and amino 

9 acids; and 

10 (B) made recommendations regarding con11 sumption of trans fat. 

12 (3) These recommendations included the fol13 lowing statement: ‘‘trans fatty acids are not essen14 tial and provide no known benefit to human health’’. 

15 (4) The Institute of Medicine concluded that— 

16 (A) both saturated and trans fats increase 

17 levels of LDL cholesterol; and 

18 (B) trans fats may also lower levels of 

19 HDL cholesterol. 

20 (5) A 2006 New England Journal of Medicine 

21 scientific review stated that ‘‘from a nutritional 

22 standpoint, the consumption of trans fatty acids re23 sults in considerable potential harm but no apparent 

24 benefit’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. DECLARATION OF TRANS FAT CONTENT OF LESS 

2 THAN 0.5 GRAM PER SERVING ON THE LABEL 

3 OR IN THE LABELING OF FOOD. 

4 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 6 months after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner 

6 of Food and Drugs shall promulgate a final regulation, 

7 revising section 101.9(c)(2)(ii) of title 21 of the Code of 

8 Federal Regulations and such other regulatory provisions 

9 as may be necessary, to— 

10 (1) require that the nutrition information on 

11 the label or labeling on an applicable food contain an 

12 asterisk or another similar notation and a note to in13 dicate that the food has a low trans fat content per 

14 serving; and 

15 (2) prohibit the label or labeling on an applica16 ble food from indicating that trans fat content per 

17 serving is zero. 

18 (b) APPLICABLE FOOD.—For purposes of this sec19 tion, the term ‘‘applicable food’’ means a food for which— 

20 (1) the trans fat content of a serving of the 

21 food is less than 0.5 gram and greater than 0.0 

22 gram; and 

23 (2) the trans fat content of a serving of the 

24 food is declared in the nutrition information on the 

25 label or in the labeling of the food. 


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1 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The regulation promulgated 

2 under subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 

3 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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