California’s Legislature has been busy, proposing a number of bills that may affect California food retailers and manufacturers, should they be signed into law. Some could become effective as early as July 2024. Below are the highlights of some of these bills.

AB 82 Dietary Supplements For Weight Loss and Over-The-Counter Diet Pills

AB 82 would prohibit retail establishments from selling dietary supplements for weight loss and over-the-counter (OTC) diet pills to individuals under 18 years of age without a prescription. Retailers would also be required to post a notice stating that certain supplements for weight loss and OTC diet pills may contribute to specified health conditions or death. Violations would come with a civil penalty of no more than $1,000 for each violation. If passed into law, it would become effective July 1, 2024.

AB 660 Food and Beverage Products Labeling: Quality Dates, Safety Dates, and Sell-By Dates

AB 660 would require food retailers, manufacturers, and processors responsible for labeling to include a date label showing a quality or safety date. It would also prohibit individuals from selling items that are not labeled in accordance with this or items that are labeled with the phrase “sell by.” This would not apply to infant formula, eggs, and pasteurized in-shell eggs. AB 660 would also require food facilities that package food using a reduced-oxygen packing method and Clostridium botulinum to have a plan in place that limits the refrigerated shelf life to no more than 30 calendar days from packing to consumption, except the time that it is maintained frozen, or the original safety date (current law notes the “sell by” or “use by” date), whichever occurs first. If passed, this law could become effective January 1, 2025.

AB 1757 Accessibility: Internet Websites

AB 1757 establishes a uniform standard for website compliance with disability law and creates enforcement mechanisms for individuals and the State. Presently, there is no specific standard for website compliance with disability law (specifically, the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the Unruh Civil Rights Act (“UNRUH”). This lack of uniform standard has created uncertainty and led to litigation. This bill seeks to help small businesses comply with the law and creates a rebuttable presumption of compliance with state accessibility requirements if the business’ website complies with the specified standard. This would ultimately prevent the business from being liable for damages available under the ADA and Unruh. This bill also allows a person to bring a civil cause of action against a person who negligently, intentionally, or knowingly built an inaccessible website. Lastly, the bill allows a business to recover damages paid to website users from the hired website designer responsible for building the inaccessible website; and allows public prosecutors to enforce the law by obtaining injunctive relief.

 AB 2577 Organic Waste: Reduction Regulations

AB 2577 would require the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, which has already adopted regulations to reduce organic waste in landfills and require not less than 20% of edible food currently disposed of to be recovered for human consumption by 2025, to also include in its regulations product labeling requirements that reduce food waste.

SB 551 Beverage Containers: Recycling

AB 551 would permit certain beverage manufacturers to comply with the current reporting requirements to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery for virgin plastic and post-consumer recycled plastic by submitting a consolidated report with aggregated information covering one or more beverage manufacturers as specified.

SB 1053 Solid Waste: Reusable Grocery Bags, Standards, Plastic Film Prohibition

SB 1053 would prohibit stores from providing single-use carryout bags to customers unless, among other things, those bags are used solely to contain or wrap specified uncooked foods and other items to avoid contamination. Currently, the exception applies to bags used to contain unwrapped food. SB 1053 would also repeal the current requirement that reusable grocery bags sold by stores at the point of sale be made by a certified reusable grocery bag producer; however, the bag would need to meet other requirements including that it not be made from plastic film material. Stores would also be prohibited from selling recycled paper bags at the point of sale unless the bag is made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled materials. If passed, the law would become effective January 1, 2026.

SB 1147 Drinking Water: Bottled Water: Microplastics Levels

SB 1147 would become effective January 1, 2026, and require the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) to study the health impacts microplastics have on drinking water, including bottled water. OEHHA would also be required to develop public health standards for a safe level of microplastics, and the State Board would have until January 1, 2028, to adopt those health standards. The State Board would also have to establish testing and reporting requirements for annual testing of microplastics in bottled water sold in the state.

Takeaways

Food manufacturers in particular should be aware of these bills as they may impact their business operations. Some bills, such as SB 82, may result in monetary penalties for failure to comply, and others, such as SB 1757, help facilitate safeguards against liability for small businesses. Various bills have effective dates in several years, so businesses may want to consider taking measures now to ensure compliance in the future.