HR4987-119

What This Bill Does

The Food Date Labeling Act standardizes voluntary food date labels across USDA- and HHS-regulated foods. If a food package uses a quality date, it must use the phrase BEST If Used By, or BB on small packages, unless USDA and HHS specify another uniform phrase by rulemaking. If a package uses a discard date, it must use USE By, or UB on small packages. Date labels must be easy to read, conspicuous, and formatted by month and year or month, day, and year. Food labelers may use time-temperature indicators, QR codes, smart labels, or similar technology in addition to the required phrase. USDA and HHS must conduct consumer education and outreach within two years, consult with FTC to standardize phrases across foods, and treat noncompliant labels as misbranding under food, poultry, meat, and egg product laws. The bill preserves state authority to ban sale or donation after a discard date, excludes infant formula, preempts state date-label phrase requirements that differ from the federal standard, and preempts bans on sale or donation based on passage of a quality date.

Who Benefits and How

Consumers benefit from clearer standardized BEST If Used By and USE By labels that distinguish quality from discard timing. Food donation organizations benefit because states may not prohibit sale or donation merely because a quality date has passed. Food manufacturers benefit from one federal labeling standard instead of different state quality-date phrase requirements. Food waste reduction advocates benefit if clearer quality-date labels reduce unnecessary disposal of apparently wholesome food.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Food labelers must use the uniform phrases, formatting, and conspicuous placement when they choose to include quality or discard dates. USDA food safety staff must administer the standard for meat, poultry, and egg products and conduct consumer education. HHS food labeling staff must administer the standard for FDA-regulated foods and coordinate rulemaking with USDA. State regulators lose authority to require different quality-date or discard-date phrases and to ban donation based solely on quality-date passage.

Key Provisions

• Requires BEST If Used By or BB for voluntary quality date labels.
• Requires USE By or UB for voluntary discard date labels.
• Requires easy-to-read, conspicuous, and standardized date formatting on covered packages.
• Provides misbranding consequences for noncompliant food, poultry, meat, and egg product labels.
• Preempts differing state date-label phrase requirements and quality-date-based sale or donation bans.