Food labeling: quality and safety dates.

Existing law provides that all food labeling regulations and any amendments to those regulations adopted pursuant to the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act shall be the food labeling regulations of this state, and authorizes the State Department of Public Health to adopt additional food labeling regulations. This bill would require the Department of Food and Agriculture, in consultation with the State Department of Public Health, on or before July 1, 2018, to publish information to encourage food manufacturers, processors, and retailers responsible for the labeling of food products to voluntarily use uniform terms on food product labels to communicate quality dates and safety dates, and would require the department to promote the consistent use of those terms. The bill would also require the department to encourage food distributors and retailers to develop alternatives to consumer-facing "sell by" dates. The bill would establish the Consumer Education Account in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund for the deposit of nonstate funds from public and private sources. The bill would continuously appropriate the funds in the account to the department to educate consumers about the meaning of quality dates and safety dates.