California is the first state to ban best before dates on food packaging

California wants to help end the everyday household debate about whether the food in the fridge is still edible.

Food labels that say “sell by” or “best before” are misleading because they do not have universal meaning under current laws. Now California wants to crack down on such practices and help consumers stop playing guessing games with food and other items in their refrigerators.

The state is the first to ban food labels such as “sell by date” or “best before” under a law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The law signed by Newsom aims to reduce both food waste and the state’s climate-damaging emissions.

There are more than 50 different dates on packaged foods sold in stores, but the information is largely unregulated and unrelated to food safety. For example, “expiration dates” are often used as a guide for stores to remove products from the shelf, rather than as an indicator of whether the product is still safe to consume.

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Because there are no federal regulations mandating what information these labels must contain, the stamps have caused confusion among consumers — and accounted for nearly 20% of the nation’s food waste, according to the Food and Drug Administration. In California, that’s about 6 million tons of unexpired food that ends up in the trash every year.

“The question of whether our food is still good is an issue that we all struggle with,” said Jacqui Irwin, a Democratic Assembly member and author of the bill.

The new law “is a monumental step toward keeping money in consumers’ pockets while helping the environment and the planet,” she added in her statement.

The law is scheduled to take effect in July 2026 and establish a new standard for food labeling in California. It will require the use of the “Best if Used By” label to indicate the highest quality and the “Use By” label for product safety, an approach recommended by federal regulators. The law provides an exception for eggs, beer and other malt beverages.

California’s law comes as similar efforts across the country continue to be halted at the federal level. State lawmakers and advocates said they have also spent the last decade passing laws to reduce food labeling confusion and curb food waste. A similar measure passed in 2016 before reaching the governor’s office. Then-Gov. Jerry Brown also signed a bill in 2017 to establish a voluntary uniform labeling protocol, but few companies ultimately followed the honor system.

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“The broad implementation that the industry was fundamentally committed to did not happen,” said Erica Parker of Californians Against Waste, which sponsored the bill. “Food waste is not decreasing, it is increasing.”

Advocates hope the legislation could pave the way for new food labeling standards across the U.S., although it’s not immediately clear whether the new law and California’s huge market will push companies to standardize food labeling for all products in the country.

“California has such a large market share that we believe this will drive manufacturers,” said Nina Sevilla of the Natural Resources Defense Council, who also supported the bill. “The hope is that California will either serve as a model for other states or ultimately spur action at the federal level.”

Shopper Jasmine Acosta, 23, said she believes most people don’t understand the current language on food labels.

“It’s confusing for most consumers,” Acosta told The Associated Press as she shopped at a Smart & Final store in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

She used to work at a small grocery store, so she developed the habit of inspecting her meat purchases for odors or discoloration before eating. A sell-by date helps the grocer maintain a first-in, first-out approach to its products and prepare for the arrival of the next shipment, but does not mean the food has gone bad, Acosta said.

While shopping on Tuesday, she picked up a package of meat labeled “Use or freeze by” — wording that she said is relatively clear compared to other phrases but could still be confusing.

“It would obviously help everyone to be on the same spectrum and make sure everything can be used by consumers, otherwise it would just be a waste of money,” Acosta said.