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SACRAMENTO, CA -- A bill that would require half the products in vending machines on California state property to comply with state-mandated nutritional standards failed to make it off of the suspense file in the Senate Appropriations Committee and is dead for the year, according to the National Automatic Merchandising Association.
Current law requires that 35% of products in vending machines on state property comply with these nutritional standards. The measure, introduced by assemblywoman Holly Mitchell (D-CA) and designated AB 727, previously required that 100% of products comply by 2016. However, California lawmakers amended the bill in June to make it less restrictive. | SEE STORY
The California Automatic Vendors Council, a NAMA state council, opposed the bill throughout the session arguing that the current requirements are adequate and that imposing the restrictions places vendors at competitive disadvantages, since cafeterias and other food outlets would have been allowed to continue to sell the same snack and beverage items without the restrictions.
