/>i- On September 28, 2024, Governor Newsom signed California’s AB 660 into law, which would standardize date labels on food packaging. The legislation is the first of its kind in the U.S. and intends to reduce both customer confusion and food waste.
- The new law at Section 82001 of the California Food and Agricultural Code, requires food manufacturers, processors, and/or retailers to use standardized language for date labels across their products. Beginning July 1, 2026, “Best if Used By” will be used to communicate peak quality, and “Use By” will be used to communicate product safety. To further reduce confusion on food date labeling, AB 660 prohibits the use of consumer facing “sell by” dates, reducing the likelihood of confusing “sell by” dates with quality and/or safety dates.
- At the federal level, companion bills were introduced in the House and Senate in May 2023 (HR 3159 and S 1484) to standardize food date labels across the U.S. With the exception of infant formula, there are no uniform federal standards for date labels. The legislation would establish a dual label system reducing the available labeling language to two phrases: one quality date indicator and one discard date indicator. If a manufacturer chooses to use a date to indicate when a food should be discarded for safety reasons, it must use the standard language “Use By” or “UB” if the package has limited space.
California Enacts Law to Standardize Date Labels
Thursday, October 17, 2024
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