I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3624 

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 

NOVEMBER 22, 2013 

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 2013’’. 

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 (6) Based on this overwhelming scientific evi2 dence, in 2013, the Food and Drug Administration 

3 issued a preliminary determination that partially hy4 drogenated oils, which are the primary dietary 

5 source of artificial trans fats, are not ‘‘generally rec6 ognized as safe’’ for use as an ingredient in food. 

7 (7) Notwithstanding such preliminary deter8 mination, certain foods will still contain a certain 

9 level of naturally-occurring trans fats, and current 

10 laws and regulations, which only require that the la11 beling of food containing a certain threshold amount 

12 of trans fats bear that fact, will remain in effect. 

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

14 THAN 0.5 GRAM PER SERVING ON THE LABEL 

15 OR IN THE LABELING OF FOOD. 

16 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

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

18 of Food and Drugs shall promulgate a final regulation, 

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

20 Federal Regulations and such other regulatory provisions 

21 as may be necessary, to— 

22 (1) require that the nutrition information on 

23 the label or labeling on an applicable food contain an 

24 asterisk or another similar notation and a note to inVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:28 Nov 27, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3624.IH H3624

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1 dicate that the food has a low trans fat content per 

2 serving; and 

3 (2) prohibit the label or labeling on an applica4 ble food from indicating that trans fat content per 

5 serving is zero. 

6 (b) APPLICABLE FOOD.—For purposes of this sec7 tion, the term ‘‘applicable food’’ means a food for which— 

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

9 food is less than 0.5 gram and greater than 0.0 

10 gram; and 

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

12 food is declared in the nutrition information on the 

13 label or in the labeling of the food. 

14 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The regulation promulgated 

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

16 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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