Californians will soon encounter a striking change in grocery aisles as the state moves to rewrite the rules on food expiration labels.
From July 1, food manufacturers and retailers across the Golden State will no longer be allowed to slap sell by dates on most packaged foods sold to consumers, according to the Daily Mail. The shift, driven by Assembly Bill 660, replaces the current patchwork of phrases with a standardized system that supporters claim will cut food waste but that also expands Sacramentos regulatory reach into yet another aspect of daily life.
Instead of the confusing mix of phrases currently printed on packaging including sell by, freshest by and expires on consumers will now see just two standard labels. Products marked BEST if Used by will refer to peak quality and flavor, while items labelled USE by will indicate a hard food safety deadline.
Regulators say the phrase was never intended to signal safety, but was instead used by retailers for stock rotation a distinction they argue has long been lost on the public. The new system will also allow shortened versions of the labels BB and UB to be used on smaller packaging and certain beverages.
Under the rules, only food manufactured on or after July 1 will need to comply, but companies that continue using banned sell by labels on consumer packaging after that date will be prohibited from selling those products in California. The grocery industry has already been scrambling to adapt, with manufacturers and retailers racing to redesign packaging for the states enormous consumer market.
California becomes the first US state to impose a unified system for food date labels, with supporters hailing the move as a potential blueprint for the rest of the country. However, critics of the broader labeling system argue that the lack of a national standard has left consumers navigating a confusing maze of more than 50 different date-related phrases across the United States.
Food waste groups have welcomed the change, saying it could help reduce the staggering amount of edible food thrown away each year due to misunderstanding of packaging dates. For shoppers, officials say the aim is simple: fewer labels, less confusion and a lot less food ending up in the bin, though many conservatives will see yet another top-down mandate where personal responsibility and market-driven solutions might have sufficed.
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