California Is Finally Cleaning Up The Food Date-Label Confusion
Remember those labels on food products such as Sell by? Use by? Best by? Expires by?
Well, say bye-bye-bye to the consumer-facing “sell by” confusion.
California is cleaning up the grocery-store problemo with AB 660, a new food date-labeling law designed to make package dates easier for shoppers to understand and harder for perfectly good food to get tossed too soon.
California’s new rule standardizes food date labels into clearer quality and safety terms starting July 1, 2026.
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No more standing in front of the fridge trying to decode which label means “still fine,” which one means “retailer inventory,” and which one means “do not play with your stomach today.”
As KTLA’s David Lazarus explains, the change is meant to simplify what consumers see. Starting July 1, 2026, food items manufactured on or after that date that use quality or safety date labels must use standardized language.
The New California Label Cheat Sheet
BEST if Used by or BEST if Used or Frozen by = peak freshness / quality.
USE by or USE by or Freeze by = safety date, meaning when the food is no longer safe to eat.
Sell by = no longer allowed as a consumer-facing date label under the new California rule.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture says the new system separates quality dates from safety dates. “Best if Used by” is about peak freshness, while “Use by” tells shoppers when a product is no longer safe to eat.
The law also bans consumer-facing “sell by” dates, which were always more about store stock rotation than helping the rest of us figure out what was happening in the refrigerator.
Important little grocery note: the law does not suddenly require every food package to carry a date. Instead, when a food manufacturer, processor or retailer chooses — or is legally required — to display a quality or safety date, that label has to follow the new uniform terms.
That means fewer label riddles, less panic tossing, and hopefully fewer perfectly edible groceries making the dramatic leap from fridge shelf to trash can.
See More From KTLA’s Food Label Breakdown.
Take a closer look at KTLA’s segment on California’s food date-label law and how it changes the way shoppers read grocery packaging.
So yes: Best if Used by means quality. Use by means safety. Sell by can finally stop pretending it was ever meant for us.
Find out how it all works with KTLA’s David Lazarus below.
Watch KTLA Explain California’s New Food Label Rule.
Press play for KTLA’s breakdown of California’s new food date-labeling law and the consumer-facing “sell by” ban.
Sources: KTLA 5 / YouTube provided the embedded David Lazarus segment on California’s confusing food-label change; California Department of Food and Agriculture explains AB 660’s uniform date-label terminology and consumer-facing “sell-by” ban; California AB 660 bill text states that the requirements apply on and after July 1, 2026 to food items manufactured on or after that date when quality or safety date labels are used.
