103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB3228

 

Introduced 2/6/2024, by Sen. Laura M. Murphy

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the Genetically Engineered Food Labeling Act. Provides that, beginning on the effective date of the Act, any food offered for retail sale in this State is misbranded if it is entirely or partially produced with genetic engineering and that fact is not disclosed in a specified manner. Provides that the Act shall not be construed to require the listing of specific ingredients as genetically engineered. Creates exemptions from the requirements of the Act. Creates a right of action for violatios of the Act. Provides that the Department of Public Health shall adopt rules necessary to implement the Act. Defines terms. Contains a severability provision. Effective January 1, 2025.


LRB103 37699 CES 67826 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB3228LRB103 37699 CES 67826 b

1    AN ACT concerning health.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Genetically Engineered Food Labeling Act.
 
6    Section 15. In this Act, terms have the meanings given to
7them in the Illinois Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, except as
8provided in this Section.
9    "Agriculture" means the science, art, or practice of
10cultivating soil, producing crops, and raising livestock or
11fish and, in varying degrees, the preparation and marketing of
12the resulting products.
13    "Cultivated commercially" means agricultural commodities
14grown or raised in the course of business or trade and sold
15within the United States.
16    "Department" means the Department of Public Health.
17    "Enzyme" means a protein that catalyzes chemical reactions
18of other substances without itself being destroyed or altered
19upon completion of the reactions.
20    "Food" means any articles used to feed or nourish man,
21chewing gum, and articles used for components, including food
22additives, of any such article.
23    "Genetically engineered" means a process that results in a

 

 

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1substance that is produced from an organism or organisms in
2which the genetic material has been changed through the
3application of the following:
4        (1) in vitro nucleic acid techniques, which include,
5    but are not limited to, recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid
6    (DNA), direct injection of nucleic acid into cells or
7    organelles, encapsulation, gene deletion, and doubling
8    (for the purposes of this definition, "in vitro nucleic
9    acid techniques" include, but are not limited to,
10    recombinant DNA or RNA techniques that use vector systems
11    and techniques involving the direct introduction into the
12    organisms of hereditary materials prepared outside the
13    organisms, such as biolistics, microinjection,
14    macro-injection, chemoporation, electroporation,
15    microencapsulation, and liposome fusion); or
16        (2) methods of fusing cells beyond the taxonomic
17    family that overcome natural physiological reproductive or
18    recombinant barriers, and that are not techniques used in
19    traditional breeding and selection, such as conjugation,
20    transduction, and hybridization.
21    "Label" means a display of written, printed, or graphic
22matter upon or connected to the immediate container or surface
23of any article. In order to meet the definition of "label", any
24word, statement, or other information appearing on the label
25shall appear on the outside container or wrapper, if any, of
26the bulk, wholesale, or retail package of the article or be

 

 

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1easily legible through the outside container or wrapper.
2    "Labeling" means any written, printed, or graphic matter
3that is present on the label, accompanies the food, or is
4displayed near the food, including that for the purpose of
5promoting its sale or disposal.
6    "Manufacturer" means the person or business that makes,
7processes, combines, or packages food ingredients into a
8finished food product.
9    "Medical food" means a food that is formulated to be
10consumed or administered internally under the supervision of a
11physician and which is intended for the specific dietary
12management of a disease or condition for which distinctive
13nutritional requirements, based on recognized scientific
14principles, are established by medical evaluation.
15    "Organism" means any biological entity capable of
16replication, reproduction, or transferring genetic material.
17    "Packaged food" means any food offered for retail sale in
18this State, other than raw food and food served, sold, or
19provided ready to eat in any bake sale, restaurant, or
20cafeteria, and that is otherwise subject to the provisions of
21the Illinois Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act prohibiting
22misbranding.
23    "Processed food" means any food other than a raw
24agricultural commodity, including any food produced from a raw
25agricultural commodity that has been subject to processing
26such as canning, smoking, pressing, cooking, freezing,

 

 

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1dehydration, fermentation, or milling.
2    "Processing aid" means the following:
3        (a) a substance that is added to a food during the
4    processing of the food but is removed in some manner from
5    the food before it is packaged in its final form;
6        (b) a substance that is added to a food during
7    processing, is converted into constituents normally
8    present in the food, and does not significantly increase
9    the amount of the constituents found in the food; or
10        (c) a substance that is added to a food for its
11    technical or functional effects in the processing but is
12    present in the finished food at insignificant levels and
13    does not have any technical or functional effect in that
14    finished food.
15    "Raw agricultural commodity" means any plant, animal, or
16fungi grown or produced for human food purposes, including all
17fruits that are washed, colored, or otherwise treated in their
18unpeeled natural form before marketing.
 
19    Section 20. Labeling of genetically engineered foods.
20    (a) Beginning on the effective date of this Act, any food
21offered for retail sale in this State is misbranded if it is
22entirely or partially produced with genetic engineering and
23that fact is not disclosed as follows:
24        (1) In the case of a raw agricultural commodity, on
25    the package offered for retail sale, with the words

 

 

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1    "Genetically Engineered" appearing clearly and
2    conspicuously on the label on the front of the package of
3    the commodity or, in the case of any such commodity that is
4    not separately packaged or labeled, on a clear and
5    conspicuous label appearing on the retail store shelf or
6    bin in which the commodity is displayed for sale.
7        (2) In the case of processed food containing some
8    products of genetic engineering, the manufacturer must
9    label the product, in clear and conspicuous language on
10    the front or back of the package of such food, with the
11    words "Produced with Genetic Engineering" or "Partially
12    Produced with Genetic Engineering".
13    (b) This Act shall not be construed to require either the
14listing or identification of any ingredient or ingredients
15that were genetically engineered, nor that the term
16"genetically engineered" be placed immediately preceding any
17common name or primary product descriptor of a food.
18    (c) Until the effective date of this Act, any processed
19food that would be subject to this Section solely because it
20includes one or more materials produced by genetic engineering
21is not misbranded provided that the engineered materials in
22the aggregate do not account for more than nine-tenths of one
23percent of the total weight of the processed food.
24    (d) Subsection (a) of this Section does not apply to any of
25the following:
26        (1) food consisting entirely of, or derived entirely

 

 

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1    from, an animal that has not itself been genetically
2    engineered, regardless of whether the animal has been fed
3    or injected with any food produced with genetic
4    engineering or any drug or vaccine that has been produced
5    through means of genetic engineering;
6        (2) a raw agricultural commodity or food that has been
7    grown, raised, produced, or derived without the knowing
8    and intentional use of genetically engineered seed or
9    food; to be included within the exclusion under this
10    subsection (d), the person responsible for complying with
11    this Section with respect to a raw agricultural commodity
12    or food must obtain, from whoever sold the raw
13    agricultural commodity or food to that person, a sworn
14    statement that the raw agricultural commodity or food (A)
15    has not been knowingly or intentionally genetically
16    engineered and (B) has been segregated from, and has not
17    been knowingly or intentionally commingled with, foods
18    that may have been genetically engineered at any time; in
19    providing the sworn statement, a person may rely on a
20    sworn statement from his or her own supplier that contains
21    such an affirmation;
22        (3) any processed food that would be subject to this
23    Section solely because one or more processing aids or
24    enzymes were produced or derived with genetic engineering;
25        (4) any alcoholic beverage that is subject to
26    regulation under the Liquor Control Act of 1934;

 

 

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1        (5) food that has been lawfully certified to be
2    labeled, marketed, and offered for sale as organic under
3    the federal Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, 7 U.S.C.
4    6501, et seq., and the National Organic Program
5    regulations promulgated pursuant thereto by the United
6    States Department of Agriculture;
7        (6) food that is not packaged for retail sale and that
8    either (A) is a processed food prepared and intended for
9    immediate human consumption or (B) is served, sold, or
10    otherwise provided in any restaurant or other food service
11    establishment that is primarily engaged in the sale of
12    food prepared and intended for immediate human
13    consumption; or
14        (7) medical food.
15    (e) With regard to the requirements of this Act concerning
16raw food, the retailer is responsible only for point of
17purchase shelf labeling. The supplier must label each
18container used for packaging, holding, or transporting, or any
19combination thereof, any raw food produced with genetic
20engineering that is delivered directly to Illinois retailers.
 
21    Section 25. Right of action for violations, damages, and
22attorneys' fees.
23    (a) The Department, acting through the Attorney General,
24may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction to
25enjoin any person violating this Act.

 

 

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1    (b) The Department may assess a civil penalty against any
2person violating this Act.
3    (c) Any injured citizen of this State may, after giving
4notice of the alleged violation to the Attorney General and
5the alleged violator and waiting 60 days, bring an action to
6enjoin a violation of this Act by a manufacturer or retailer in
7any court of competent jurisdiction. The court may award to a
8citizen who is a prevailing plaintiff reasonable attorney's
9fees and costs incurred in investigating and prosecuting the
10action, but the court may not award any monetary damages.
11    (d) For the purposes of this Act, food shall be considered
12not to have been produced with the knowing or intentional use
13of genetic engineering if:
14        (1) the food is lawfully certified to be labeled,
15    marketed, and offered for sale as organic under the
16    federal Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, 7 U.S.C.
17    6501 et seq., which prohibits genetic engineering; or
18        (2) in the case of a manufacturer or retailer
19    obligated to label any food under this Act, if such entity
20    has obtained from whomever sold the food to them a sworn
21    statement that the food has not been knowingly or
22    intentionally genetically engineered and has been
23    segregated from, and not knowingly or intentionally
24    commingled with, foods that may have been genetically
25    engineered at any time.
26    (e) With regard to the sworn statement described in item

 

 

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1(2) of subsection (d) of this Section, a manufacturer or
2retailer may rely on a sworn statement from a supplier that
3contains the affirmation. Alternatively, a manufacturer or
4retailer may rely on an independent organization if it
5determines that the food has not been knowingly or
6intentionally genetically engineered and has been segregated
7from, and not knowingly or intentionally commingled with,
8foods that may have been genetically engineered at any time,
9if such a determination has been made pursuant to a sampling
10and testing procedure:
11        (1) consistent with sampling and testing principles
12    recommended by internationally recognized standards
13    organizations; and
14        (2) that does not rely on testing processed foods in
15    which no DNA is detectable.
16    (f) Unless the retailer is also the producer or the
17manufacturer of the food and sells the food under a brand it
18owns, no act or omission of any retailer shall be deemed a
19violation of this Act, except for knowingly and willfully
20failing to provide point of purchase labeling for unpackaged
21raw agricultural commodities. In any action in which it is
22alleged that a retailer has violated the provisions of this
23Section, it shall be a defense that such retailer reasonably
24relied on any disclosure as to whether a food was produced
25through genetic engineering contained in the bill of sale or
26invoice provided by the wholesaler or distributor, or a lack

 

 

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1of such disclosure.
2    (g) No action may be brought against any farmer for any
3violation of any provision of this Act unless the farmer is
4also a retailer or manufacturer, but any farmer submitting a
5false sworn statement under item (2) of subsection (d) of this
6Section shall be subject to the laws of this State pertaining
7to perjury.
8    (h) The Department of Public Health shall adopt and
9enforce rules necessary to implement this Act. The Department
10of Public Health is not authorized to exempt from the
11requirements of this Section any food product that is made
12subject to those requirements by the provisions of this Act.
13The Department of Public Health may, by rule, provide that a
14person may be subject to an injunction and responsible for the
15payment of the prevailing party's attorneys' fees under this
16Act for failure to label packaged food in accordance with this
17Act at such time as the Department of Public Health determines
18the commercial availability of relevant materials not produced
19with genetic engineering.
 
20    Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
21severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
 
22    Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect January
231, 2025.