What: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are announcing a joint Request for Information (RFI) about food date labeling, which includes using terms such as “Sell By,” “Use By,” and “Best By.” The RFI seeks information on industry practices and preferences for date labeling, research results on consumer perceptions of date labeling and any impact date labeling may have on food waste and grocery costs. For example, questions in the RFI include which products contain date labels and what criteria are used to decide what phrase to use and what date to include.
The RFI also asks questions about how consumers interpret date label information, including whether consumers are confused by this information, especially if they believe the dates determine whether food is safe when in fact, they indicate quality, or whether it has impacts on decisions made while grocery shopping or discarding food. Finally, there are questions that explore any relationship between date labels, food waste, and household expenses.
USDA and FDA’s RFI is one of many actions to be taken in response to the National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics, which was released by the FDA, USDA, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in June 2024. The USDA estimates that the average family of four spends at least $1,500 each year on food that ends up uneaten and the EPA estimates that in 2019, 66 million tons of wasted food was generated in the food retail, food service, and residential sectors, and most of this waste (about 60%) was sent to landfills.
Why: In response to the draft National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics, the FDA and the USDA received over 9,800 comments encouraging an update of the federal date labeling requirements, including standardizing date labeling. Commenters noted that food manufacturers use a variety of phrases such as “Sell By,” “Use By,” and “Best By” on product labels to describe dates on a voluntary basis. According to commenters, using different phrases to describe dates may confuse consumers and lead to the premature disposal of wholesome and safe food because it is past the date printed on the package. The RFI attempts to explore the issues raised in those comments by asking stakeholders for information they have relevant to this topic.
Action: Commenters will have until February 3, 2025, to provide comments responding to one or more of the 13 questions posed. Further information on how to submit a comment can be found in the Federal Register.
Read the proposed rule on federalregister.gov.
Advocacy also has a publication on how to write comment letters – Small Business Guide to Comment Letter Writing.
Advocacy contact: Send an email to Linwood Rayford at linwood.rayford@sba.gov.