California AB 660 will take effect on July 1, 2026, requiring all pre packaged foods sold in California to be labeled with standardized best before use and safety dates.

Ruixu recently learned that California AB 660 law has put forward new requirements for the labeling of pre packaged foods. Pre packaged foods produced and sold in California must use standardized best before date and safety date labels, and the use of "best before date" labeling on pre packaged foods is completely prohibited. These two core changes will take effect on July 1, 2026.

To reduce the label compliance risks of related enterprises, Ruixu Group has sorted out the details of the bill, as follows.

New regulations on food labeling

1. Mandatory use of standardized best before use or safety date labels

This law requires that all pre packaged food labels must indicate the best before use date or safety date. This requirement only applies to pre packaged foods and does not apply to ready to eat foods, such as meals served in restaurants.

The difference between the two is that the best before date refers to the date on the label that informs consumers that the quality of the food may begin to decline, but the food can still be consumed after this date. The best date for consumption usually applies to products stored at room temperature, which may experience adverse changes in freshness and taste over time, but usually do not pose a risk to consumption. In contrast, the safety date informs consumers that they should consume or freeze the food before the date indicated on the packaging, which is applicable to perishable products that may pose safety hazards over time. The safety date usually applies to products stored at very high temperatures, such as frozen pre packaged foods and other foods that may become unsafe after a certain period of time.

Depending on the applicable date type, the label must use one of the following specific statements:

For best before date: "Best if Used by" or "Best if Used or Frozen by"

For safety dates: "Use by" or "Use by or Freeze by"

For situations where these uniform terms cannot be labeled due to small packaging, abbreviated forms can be used: "BB" represents the best date for consumption, and "UB" represents the safe period.

2. Prohibit the use of sell by dates

The AB 660 bill completely prohibits the use of the best seller date on all food packaging. But there is one exception: the bill allows the use of dates presented in encoded format, which must be labeled in a way that consumers are not easily aware of.