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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Harrison

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

3/13/2007

3/15/2007 HM 87/aHCPAC

SHORT TITLE Trans Fat Content and Guidelines

SB

ANALYST Schuss

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY07

FY08

FY09 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

Unknown Unknown Unknown

Non-

Recurring General

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Did Not Respond

Department of Environment (DOE)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HCPAC Amendment

The amendment proposed by the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee adds that the

Environmental Improvement Board is requested to join with the New Mexico Restaurant

Association to conduct this study.

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Memorial 87 requests that the Environmental Improvement Board study ways to identify

the trans fat content in restaurant food and convey this information to customers and to develop

guidelines for use of trans fat.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

House Memorial 87 contains no appropriation to conduct the requested study. There is an

implied cost to the general fund to conduct this study.

The Environmental Improvement Board is also requested to convey their findings to customers,

and develop workable guidelines for the restaurant industry on ridding foods of trans fat and on

recommended limits of trans fat content. These are also potential costs to the general fund.

House Memorial 87/aHCPAC – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

House Memorial 87 states that trans fat is a chemically created fat that is unhealthy for human

consumption and trans fat consumption should be kept as low as possible, according to the 2005

dietary guidelines for Americans, the American Heart Association, the American Diabetes

Association, the World Health Organization and the National Cholesterol Education Program.

According to HM 87, consumption of trans fat raises bad cholesterol levels and lowers good

cholesterol levels, causing arteries to become clogged and increasing the risk of developing heart

disease and stroke, and is linked to obesity. Heart disease is the number one killer in the nation

and New Mexico. The annual death rate for heart disease in New Mexico is one hundred

seventy-seven per one hundred thousand people, and at least sixty percent of New Mexico adults

are overweight or obese. At least twenty-seven percent of New Mexico high school students and

twenty-four percent of children aged two to five are overweight and obesity acquired during

childhood and adolescence is likely to persist into adulthood and increase the risk for a number

of chronic diseases.

HM 87 states that the Food and Drug Administration now requires food companies to list trans

fat content separately on the nutrition panel of all packaged foods, and nutrition labels now list

any measurable amount of trans fat in a separate line on the total fat section under saturated fat.

Trans fats used in cooking are not as easily assessed as those on packaged food labels and

lawmakers in at least thirteen states and numerous cities have enacted or introduced some kind of

trans fat legislation. Some restaurant chains have voluntarily eliminated trans fats, as have the

Ohio State University campus and the Girl Scouts.

The House of Representatives of the State of New Mexico requests that the Environmental

Improvement Board study ways to identify the trans fat content in restaurant food and to convey

this information to customers. HM 87 also requests that the Environmental Improvement Board

develop workable guidelines for the restaurant industry on ridding foods of trans fat and on

recommended limits of trans fat content.

BS/csd