(1) 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 would instead require, on and after July 1, 2026, a food manufacturer, processor, or retailer responsible for the labeling of food items for human consumption that chooses, or is otherwise required by law, to display a date label to communicate a quality or safety date on a food item manufactured on or after July 1, 2026, to use one of the specified terms on the date label, as provided. The bill would prohibit a person from selling or offering for sale in the state a food item for human consumption manufactured on or after July 1, 2026, that displays a quality or safety date label that is not labeled in accordance with these terms. The bill would prohibit a person from selling or offering for sale in the state a food item for human consumption manufactured on or after July 1, 2026, 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. The bill would specify that, unless otherwise required by law, these provisions do not require the use or display of a date label on a food item for human consumption unless the food item displays a date label, and would provide that these provisions do not prohibit a label that allows consumers to view online information about a food item for human consumption. The bill would authorize a grocery store, on and after July 1, 2026, to display a label with the phrase "packed on" on a prepared food item and to sell or offer for sale in the state the prepared food item with that label, if the prepared food item also displays a quality or safety date label in accordance with the above-described provisions. The bill would not apply the above-mentioned provisions to infant formula, eggs, and pasteurized in-shell eggs.
By creating new requirements regarding the labeling of food items, the violation of which would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(2) 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.
Existing law, located within the California Retail Food Code, 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 would retain that requirement before July 1, 2026, and, on and after July 1, 2026, 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, the California Retail Food Code, 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 12 gallon, or the date shucked for packages with a capacity of 12 gallon or more.
This bill would retain the "sell by" date or "best if used by" date requirements for raw shucked shellfish packaged before July 1, 2026, and, for raw shucked shellfish packaged on and after July 1, 2026, would require specified terms to communicate quality dates and safety dates, as provided.
A violation of the California Retail Food Code is generally a misdemeanor. By revising the standards that are enforced by local health agencies and by expanding the scope of existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Statutes affected:
AB660: 27644 FAC, 27644.5 FAC, 27687 FAC, 82001 FAC, 114039 HSC, 114057.1 HSC
02/09/23 - Introduced: 27644 FAC, 27644.5 FAC, 27687 FAC, 82001 FAC, 114039 HSC, 114057.1 HSC
04/10/23 - Amended Assembly: 27644 FAC, 27644.5 FAC, 27687 FAC, 82001 FAC, 114039 HSC, 114057.1 HSC
05/01/23 - Amended Assembly: 27644 FAC, 27644.5 FAC, 27687 FAC, 82001 FAC, 114039 HSC, 114057.1 HSC
05/18/23 - Amended Assembly: 27644 FAC, 27644.5 FAC, 27687 FAC, 82001 FAC, 114039 HSC, 114057.1 HSC
06/26/23 - Amended Senate: 27644 FAC, 27644.5 FAC, 27687 FAC, 82001 FAC, 114039 HSC, 114057.1 HSC
08/17/23 - Amended Senate: 27644 FAC, 27644.5 FAC, 27687 FAC, 82001 FAC, 114039 HSC, 114057.1 HSC
06/06/24 - Amended Senate: 82001 FAC, 114039 HSC, 114057.1 HSC
AB 660: 27644 FAC, 27644.5 FAC, 27687 FAC, 82001 FAC, 114039 HSC, 114057.1 HSC