Amended in Assembly April 5, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2725

Introduced by Assembly Member Chiu

February 19, 2016

An act to add Sections 114094.6, 114094.7, 114094.8, and 114094.9 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to food safety.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2725, as amended, Chiu. Food manufacturers: food facilities: labels.

Existing law, the California Retail Food Code, provides for regulation by the State Department of Public Health of food manufacturers and retail food facilities and the preparation and sale of foods. Under existing law, local health agencies are primarily responsible for enforcing the code. A person who violates any provision of the code is guilty of a misdemeanor, except as otherwise provided.

This bill would, among other things, require the department to identify a list of ready-to-eat foods that have a high level of risk associated with consumption after a specified date and to post that list on its Internet Web site. The bill would, beginning July 1, 2017, require a food manufacturer or retail food facility that chooses to include a quality date, as defined, on foods for sale that are not identified on the department’s list to display that date using the phrase “best if used by” in 8-point type size or larger type, as specified. The bill would, beginning July 1, 2017, require a begin delete retail food facility end delete begin insert food manufacturer end insert that begin delete offers for sale a food on the department’s list end delete begin insert elects to include an elevated risk date on products that require time/temperature control for safety (TCS) end insert to label the package or container of that food identifying the elevated-risk date, as defined, using the phrase “expires begin delete on.” The bill would require the department to adopt related regulations on or before July 1, 2017. end delete begin insert on” or another term specified by the department. The bill would specify that it does not create a legal liability for a retail food provider to ensure that the manufacturer has properly labeled the product end insert begin insert . end insert The bill would make related findings and declarations.

By creating new crimes and imposing additional enforcement duties on local health agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) Food is the single most prevalent item in California’s waste
stream, with over 5.5 million tons of food dumped in landfills
every year in the state.

(b) Four percent of the total energy budget, about 12 percent of
the land, and 23 percent of all freshwater consumed in the United
States is used to grow food that goes uneaten.

(c) Discarded food is a drain on our economy, costing consumers
and industry $162 billion each year nationally.

(d) Reducing food losses by just 15 percent would be equivalent
to enough food to feed more than 25 million Americans every
year. According to estimates, more than 6 million Californians,
including one in four children, suffer from food insecurity.

(e) Dumping uneaten food and other organic waste into landfills
releases more than 8.3 million tons of greenhouse gases each year
in California, contributing 20 percent of the state’s methane
emissions.

(f) Misinterpretation of the date labels on foods is a key factor
leading to food waste in American households, and surveys show
that 56 to 90 percent of consumers discard food prematurely as a
result of misinterpreting food date labels.

(g) It is the public policy of this state that consumers benefit
from uniform and accurate expiration date labeling.

SEC. 2.  

Section 114094.6 is added to the Health and Safety
Code, to read:

114094.6.  

(a) If a food manufacturer or retail food facility
chooses to include a quality date on foods not identified pursuant
to subdivision (b) of Section 114094.7, the quality date shall be
displayed in accordance with this section.

(b) (1) On or before July 1, 2017, food for sale or offered for
sale in the state that includes a quality date shall meet all of the
following requirements:

(A) The quality date shall be displayed with the uniform phrase
“best if used by” unless and until the department specifies a
different uniform term. The department shall have discretion to
modify these guidelines, after consulting with stakeholders in an
open public process.

(B)  begin delete The quality date and phrase shall be displayed in a single
easy-to-read type style using upper and lower case letters in the
standard form, in 8-point type size or larger, located in a
conspicuous place on the food package. end delete The begin insert quality end insert date shall be
expressed by the first three letters of the month followed by the
numeral designating the appropriate calendar day and year or by
expressing the calendar month numerically followed by a numeral
designating the calendar day and a numeral designating the year.

(2) The department may adopt regulations modifying these
guidelines, after consulting with stakeholders in an open public
process, in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act
(Chapter 3.5 (commending with Section 11340) of Part 1 of
Division 3 of the Government Code).

(c) For purposes of this article, “quality date” means the date
indicated on the label affixed to the packaging or container of food,
pursuant to subdivision (b), that communicates to consumers the
date after which the food’s quality may begin to deteriorate.

(d) On and after July 1, 2017, a retail food facility shall not sell
or offer for sale a food item that is not labeled in accordance with
this section or Section 114094.7, as applicable.

(e) (1) A retail food facility may donate a food item that is not
labeled in accordance with this section.

(2) This section does not prohibit, and shall not be construed to
discourage, the sale, donation, or use of food after the food’s
quality date has passed.

begin insert

(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to create a legal
liability for a retail food provider to ensure that the manufacturer
has properly labeled the product.

end insert

begin delete

SEC. 3.  

Section 114094.7 is added to the Health and Safety
Code, to read:

114094.7.  

(a) On and after July 1, 2017, a retail food facility
that offers for sale any food identified by the department pursuant
to subdivision (b) shall, at the time of sale to the consumer, cause
the package or container of that food to be labeled in a manner
that identifies the elevated-risk date, in accordance with the
regulations adopted by the department pursuant to subdivision (c).

(b) The department shall establish a list of ready-to-eat foods
that have a high level of risk associated with consumption after a
specified date, such as those classified by the United States Food
and Drug Administration and the United States Department of
Agriculture as “very high risk” or “high risk” for Listeria
monocytogenes, and post that list on the department’s Internet
Web site.

(c) (1) On or before July 1, 2017, the department shall adopt
regulations, in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act
(Chapter 3.5 (commending with Section 11340) of Part 1 of
Division 3 of the Government Code), requiring that a retail food
facility display the elevated-risk date with the uniform phrase
“expires on” unless and until the department specifies a different
uniform term.

(2)  The department may adopt regulations modifying these
guidelines, after consulting with stakeholders in an open public
process, in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act.

(d) For purposes of this section, “elevated risk” means the date
indicated on the label affixed to the packaging or container of food,
pursuant to subdivision (a), after which there is a high level of risk
associated with the consumption of the food product.

(e) On and after July 1, 2017, a retail food facility shall not sell
or offer for sale a food item that is not labeled in accordance with
this section or Section 114094.6, as applicable.

end delete

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 114094.7 is added to the end insert begin insert Health and Safety
Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

begin insert 114094.7. end insert   

(a) A food manufacturer may include an elevated
risk date on products that require time/temperature control for
safety (TCS), as defined by the United States Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) Food Code, as published in 2013.

(b) (1) On and after July 1, 2017, food for sale or offered for
sale in the state that includes an elevated risk date on the product
shall meet both of the following requirements:

(A) The elevated risk date shall be displayed with the uniform
phrase “expires on,” unless and until the department specifies a
different uniform phrase.

(B) The date shall be expressed by the first three letters of the
month, followed by the numerals designating the appropriate
calendar day and year or by expressing the calendar month
numerically followed by numerals designating the calendar day
and year.

(2) The department may adopt regulations adding or exempting
foods from the provisions of this section, after consulting with
stakeholders in an open public process, in accordance with the
Administrative Procedures Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code).

(3) The department may modify the guidelines in this subdivision
after consulting with stakeholders in an open public process.

(c) For purposes of this section, “elevated risk date” means the
date indicated on the label affixed to the packaging or container
after which there is a high level of risk associated with the
consumption of the food product.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to create a legal
liability for the retail food provider to ensure that the manufacturer
has properly labeled the food product.

end insert

SEC. 4.  

Section 114094.8 is added to the Health and Safety
Code, to read:

114094.8.  

On or before December 1, 2017, the department
shall provide consumer guidance on the meaning of the quality
date and safety date food labels.

SEC. 5.  

Section 114094.9 is added to the Health and Safety
Code, to read:

114094.9.  

(a) A retail food facility shall not sell or offer for
sale a food item that is labeled with a “sell-by” date, or any date
in the labeling of food that is intended to communicate primarily
to a distributor or retailer for purposes of stock rotation that is not
a quality date or an elevated-risk date.

(b) This section does not prohibit the use of sell-by dates that
are presented in a coded format that is not easily readable by
consumers.

begin insert

(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to create a legal
liability for the retail food provider to ensure that the manufacturer
has properly labeled the product.

end insert

SEC. 6.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for certain
costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district
because, in that regard, this act creates a new crime or infraction,
eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime
or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.

However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains other costs mandated by the state, reimbursement
to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.