California Bans 'Sell By' Labels, Standardizing 2 Date Terms to Cut 6 Million Tons of Food Waste
Updated
Updated · abcnews.com · Jul 1
California Bans 'Sell By' Labels, Standardizing 2 Date Terms to Cut 6 Million Tons of Food Waste
3 articles · Updated · abcnews.com · Jul 1
Summary
Wednesday’s law bars manufacturers from using “sell by” on food sold in California, replacing it with “Best if Used By” for quality and “Use By” for safety.
More than 50 date-label phrases on packaged food have fueled consumer confusion, and the FDA says that confusion drives nearly 20% of U.S. food waste.
California throws away about 6 million tons of unexpired food each year, while food banks also lose usable donations because many people treat “sell by” dates as expiration warnings.
Grocers said some labeling systems had to be overhauled, but the industry broadly backed the change; older labels will still appear for months as existing stock is sold.
California became the first U.S. state to standardize food date labels under a 2024 law, and New York plus a pending bipartisan congressional bill are adding momentum for a national standard.
Now that California has banned 'sell by' dates, what happens to food shipped from states that still use them?
California just changed its food labels to fight waste. Will the rest of the country be forced to follow suit?
California's new labels aim to cut waste, but could they accidentally convince people to discard perfectly good food?
California Bans "Sell By" Dates: How AB 660’s 2026 Food Label Law Aims to Cut 2.5 Billion Meals of Waste Annually
Overview
On July 1, 2026, California transformed its food labeling rules by implementing Assembly Bill 660. This law standardizes food date labels across the state, removing confusing 'sell by' dates from consumer packaging. The main goal is to reduce food waste, as about 2.5 billion meals worth of unspoiled food end up in California landfills each year, making up nearly half of the state's waste and producing harmful methane gases. By making date labels clearer, California hopes to help consumers make better choices, cut down on waste, and protect the environment.