Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin has introduced AB 660 related to food labeling and expiration dates. Her office has reached in an effort to work with CRA on language.

We will be meeting with her office next week. If you could please send me your initial comments by the end of the week (apologies for the quick turn around, but it is that time of year!) I would appreciate it. I tried to provide the highlights of that the bill is intending to do compared to existing law below.

Please reach out directly to me at RMichelin@calretailers.com.

Rachel

EXISTING LAW

Requires the Department of Food and Agriculture, in consultation with the State Department of Public Health, to publish information to encourage food manufacturers, processors, and retailers responsible for the labeling of food products to voluntarily use specified uniform terms on food product labels to communicate quality dates, as defined, and safety dates, as defined. Existing law also requires the Department of Food and Agriculture to encourage food distributors and retailers to develop alternatives to consumer-facing “sell by” dates, defined to mean a date on a label affixed to the packaging or container of food that is intended to communicate primarily to a distributor or retailer for purposes of stock rotation and that is not a quality date or a safety date. The Food and Agricultural Code provides that, unless a different penalty is expressly provided, a violation of any provision of that code is a misdemeanor.

THIS BILL

Requires the Department of Food and Agriculture to, in consultation with the State Department of Public Health, before January 1, 2025, publish information to assist food manufacturers, processors, and retailers responsible for the labeling of food products to use specified terms on food product labels to communicate quality dates and safety dates, as provided. The bill would, on and after January 1, 2025, prohibit a person from selling or offering for sale in the state a food item that is not labeled in accordance with these terms. The bill would, on and after January 1, 2025, prohibit a person from selling or offering for sale in the state a food item that is labeled with the phrase “sell by,” as specified. The bill would also require the State Department of Public Health to make certain updates to its regulations involving the California Retail Food Code, as provided.

EXISTING LAW

Except as provided, it is unlawful for an egg handler to sell, offer for sale, or expose for sale certain eggs that are packed for human consumption unless each container intended for sale to the ultimate consumer is labeled with certain information, including, among other information, the words “sell-by” immediately followed by the month and day in bold type, as specified.

THIS BILL

Retains that “sell-by” requirement before January 1, 2025. The bill would, on and after January 1, 2025, instead require each container to be labeled with, among other information, specified terms to communicate quality dates and safety dates, as provided.

EXISTING LAW

If on reinspection certain eggs fail to meet the specifications of the grades with which they are labeled, the seller must remark or repackage the eggs to meet the specifications for their actual grades before calling for reinspection. Existing law requires repackaged eggs to be labeled with the original sell by date.

THIS BILL

Retains that labeling requirement before January 1, 2025, and, on and after January 1, 2025, would instead require specified terms to communicate quality dates and safety dates, as provided.

EXISTING LAW

The California Retail Food Code, establishes uniform health and sanitation standards for retail food facilities for regulation by the State Department of Public Health, and requires local enforcement agencies to enforce those provisions and requires a food facility that packages food using a reduced-oxygen packaging method and Clostridium botulinum to have an approved plan, as specified, that, among other things, limits the refrigerated shelf life to no more than 30 calendar days from packaging to consumption, except the time product is maintained frozen, or the original manufacturer’s “sell by” or “use by” date, whichever occurs first.

THIS BILL

Retain that requirement before January 1, 2025, and, on and after January 1, 2025, would limit the refrigerated shelf life to no more than 30 calendar days from packaging to consumption, except the time the product is maintained frozen, or the original safety date, as specified, whichever occurs first.

EXISTING LAW

Requires raw shucked shellfish to be obtained in nonreturnable packages that bear a legible label that identifies the name, address, and certification number of the shucker-packer or repacker of the molluscan shellfish, and a “sell by” date or a “best if used by” date for packages with a capacity of less than 1/2 gallon, or the date shucked for packages with a capacity of 1/2 gallon or more.

THIS BILL

Retains the “sell by” date or “best if used by” date requirements before January 1, 2025, and, on and after January 1, 2025, would require specified terms to communicate quality dates and safety dates, as provided.