Why California's 'sell by' label ban could spread nationwide

California's new ban on confusing food date labels could reshape how packaged groceries are labeled across the country, as other states weigh similar rules and food manufacturers face pressure to adopt a single national standard.

California bans 'sell-by' labels 

Dig deeper:

California will fundamentally change how grocery items are marked under a new consumer protection law aimed at drastically cutting down statewide food waste. 

RELATED: California bans 'sell-by' labels to fight food waste with mandatory new grocery rules

Assembly Bill 660 is an enacted consumer protection law designed to stop billions of pounds of unspoiled food from unnecessarily entering California landfills. 

Under the legislation, confusing and varied grocery terms are prohibited on consumer-facing packaging.

Instead, the state mandates a streamlined, uniform terminology system that separates food freshness from health risks. 

Manufacturers are required to use the phrase "BEST if Used by" to indicate peak product quality. Conversely, the phrase "USE by" must be reserved strictly for public food safety warnings.

The new guidelines will be fully implemented by July 1.

Other states may follow suit

Big picture view:

California became the first state in the U.S. to standardize food labels when it approved the law in 2024 that seeks to reduce food waste and the state’s climate-warming emissions. New York state lawmakers recently approved a similar law that is awaiting Gov. Kathy Hochul’s signature.

Legislation addressing food labeling also has been proposed in Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and South Carolina, though it has not passed in those states.

There are more than 50 different date labels on packaged food sold in stores, according to a 2022 report on food waste published by the University of Maryland. The information in the labels is largely unregulated and often does not relate to food safety.

Currently, the only product that is regulated federally with date labels is infant formula.

With no federal regulations dictating what information labels should include, the stamps have led to consumer confusion — and nearly 20% of the nation’s food waste, according to the Food and Drug Administration. In California, that’s about 6 million tons of unexpired food that’s tossed in the trash each year.

What they're saying:

Nick Lapis, director of advocacy at Californians Against Waste, which co-sponsored the bill, said food labels are the leading cause of household food waste. The "sell by" date labels have also been a problem for food banks in California because people consider those dates as meaning the food has expired, he said.

"We don’t need to build some kind of huge infrastructure and invest tons of money to solve this. We just need companies to use the same words across brands," he said.

Nate Rose, a spokesperson for the California Grocers Association, said some grocers have had to overhaul their labeling systems, but as a whole, the association has been supportive of the change.

The new labels will result in "a win-win where we can reduce food waste and consumers will find these decisions a little bit simpler," he said, adding that shoppers will still find old labels in stores for months to come as grocers sell through the products that already have them.