\u201cSell by\u201d labels on perishable products are now banned in California, having reached their expiration date under a new food labeling law that came into effect Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The bill<\/a>, which passed in 2024, standardizes such labels in a bid to reduce consumer confusion and cut food waste in the state.<\/p>\n It limits manufacturers to a few terms: \u201cbest if used by\u201d or \u201cbest if frozen by\u201d to indicate when a food item is at its peak quality, and \u201cuse by\u201d or \u201cfreeze by\u201d to indicate when a food item is no longer safe to eat. The law applies to all products except for eggs and infant formula, according to California\u2019s Department of Food and Agriculture.<\/p>\n The bill addressed what federal and state officials have long said can be a source of confusion for consumers: when to toss out aging food products. In the United States, there are roughly 50 variations<\/a> of date labels.<\/p>\n The wording of these labels is usually shaped by the policies of individual states, each with their own requirements that vary across food products. Infant formula is the only product with standardized, federally regulated date labels in the United States.<\/p>\n More than one-third<\/a> of food sold nationwide ends up going to waste, in part because consumers throw away food they think has gone bad when it hasn\u2019t, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For the most part, \u201cdates are not an indicator of the product\u2019s safety,\u201d the department says<\/a>.<\/p>\n Experts say<\/a> the term \u201csell by\u201d is generally for retailers to know when to rotate inventory, compared with labels like \u201cbest if used by\u201d and \u201cuse by,\u201d which indicate quality.<\/p>\n Clarifying food date labels can \u201cgreatly aid in curbing food waste that often is discarded prematurely,\u201d California\u2019s Department of Food and Agriculture says<\/a>.<\/p>\n Under the state\u2019s bill, \u201csell by\u201d dates can still be included on products as long as they are \u201ccoded\u201d \u2014 information that is aimed at retailers rather than consumers.<\/p>\n There will be a grace period for manufacturers and retailers to finish selling products made before July 1, according to Californians Against Waste, an advocacy group that cosponsored the bill.<\/p>\n The organization said on its website<\/a> that it hoped the bill would catalyze similar legislation in other states. New York state lawmakers recently approved a similar law<\/a>, and legislation addressing food labeling has been proposed in several other states.<\/p>\n