Why California Is Changing Its ‘best By’ Labels On All Food Items

Grocery shopping successful California is astir to get a small little confusing.

Starting July 1, a caller state law will simplify food day labels, making it easier for shoppers to cognize whether a day is astir value aliases safety. This will besides thief trim nan billions of pounds of edible food thrown distant each year, according to nan California Department of Food and Agriculture.

Under nan caller law, nutrient products manufactured successful California must usage 1 of 2 standardized labels. Products branded "Best if Used by" aliases "Best if Used aliases Frozen by" bespeak erstwhile nan nutrient is astatine its champion quality. Products branded "Use by" aliases "Use by aliases Freeze by" bespeak erstwhile nan nutrient whitethorn nary longer beryllium safe to eat.

Consumer-facing "Sell By" dates will besides disappear, though retailers tin still usage coded dates down nan scenes to negociate inventory.

The caller rules use to nutrient made connected aliases aft July 1, truthful older labels whitethorn still look successful stores during nan transition. Items for illustration infant formula, eggs, alcoholic beverages and immoderate shellfish are exempt, and businesses that do not comply could look enforcement nether California nutrient information laws.

The extremity is to clear up a problem that has agelong confused shoppers. Food packages successful nan U.S. presently usage much than 50 different day phrases, including "Best By," "Expires On" and "Please Enjoy By,” according to a report published by researchers pinch nan University of Maryland.

Many consumers presume those dates mean nutrient is unsafe to eat aft they walk but successful astir cases, they really bespeak erstwhile a merchandise is expected to person its champion spirit aliases texture, aliases thief stores support way of inventory, not whether nan nutrient has spoiled.

Unlike what galore shoppers think, nan national authorities doesn't modulate astir nutrient day labels.

Except for babe formula, manufacturers person agelong chosen their ain wording, creating a patchwork of labels primitively meant to bespeak freshness, not nutrient safety.

That disorder has contributed to important nutrient waste. In a 2025 national survey, 87 percent of respondents said they believed they understood nutrient day labels, but only 53 percent correctly identified what nan labels really mean. The study besides recovered that 43 percent of Americans regularly discard nutrient that is adjacent aliases past nan printed date, moreover erstwhile it remains safe to eat.

California officials estimate residents propulsion distant nan balanced of 2.5 cardinal meals of edible nutrient each year, according to CalRecycle.

Organic discarded makes up astir half of what Californians nonstop to landfills, wherever decomposing nutrient produces methane, a potent greenhouse state that accounts for astir 41 percent of nan state's methane emissions.