TRENTON – Aiming to reduce food waste and provide more clarity to consumers the Senate Environment and Energy Committee advanced legislation sponsored by its Chair, Senator Bob Smith, and Senator Linda Greenstein to establish standards for food date labeling.
Food waste can often result from confusion surrounding inconsistent food date labeling formats, as federal regulations lack consistency or specificity and state laws vary widely. For example, “sell by” dates often lead consumers to believe that food is no longer safe to eat after that date despite not indicating a food’s quality or safety. Other terminology, such as “use by” or “enjoy by” are similarly vague, often erroneously leading consumers to think they indicate a date after which food is no longer safe to consume. This bill seeks to solve these issues by establishing clear standards and thereby reducing consumer confusion around food safety.
“According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, roughly 30 to 40 percent of food in our country is wasted, which is a tragedy both for residents who go hungry and the environment. As food waste enters landfills it produces harmful methane gas, which has a much higher impact than CO2,” said Senator Bob Smith (D-Middlesex/Somerset). “With clear, easy-to-understand standards for labeling, consumers will have a better idea of when food is still safe to eat and be able to avoid needlessly throwing away good food, which will save them money on groceries and reduce the amount of waste entering our landfills.”
The bill, S-200, would establish standards for food date labeling that would prohibit a retail food facility from selling or offering for sale food that is labeled with a “sell by” date, unless the dates are presented in a coded format not easily readable by consumers. Instead, the bill would establish the following acceptable formats:
- a “quality date” designated by the phrase “BEST if used by” that would indicate the date after which the quality of the food may begin to deteriorate, but the food remains safe for consumption; or
- an “elevated-risk date” designated by the phrase “USE by” that indicates the date, established by a manufacturer, after which there is a high level of risk with the consumption of the food.
“Establishing uniform standards for food labeling will allow consumers to better understand if their groceries are still safe to eat, which will in turn empower them to reduce waste and avoid needlessly spending more than they have to,” said Senator Greenstein (D-Mercer/Middlesex). “Clear, consistent food date labeling is a win-win, helping consumers while at the same time reducing the waste that contributes to environmental harm.”
The bill would additionally direct the Commissioner of Health to establish a program to educate the public on food date labeling. The program would include a public information campaign differentiating between the quality date and elevated-risk date, the meaning of food date labels, and how to properly handle food and when it can be safely consumed. The bill would take effect one year after enactment, but to maintain consistency would become inoperative if the federal government were to pass a federal food labeling standard that preempts the provisions of the bill.