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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 211 FILED ON: 1/11/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2205
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Hannah Kane
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act decreasing food waste by standardizing the date labeling of food.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Hannah Kane11th Worcester1/10/2023Mindy Domb3rd Hampshire1/18/2023Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire1/24/2023Patricia A. Duffy5th Hampden1/26/2023Margaret R. Scarsdale1st Middlesex1/26/2023Kathleen R. LaNatra12th Plymouth1/26/2023Kimberly N. Ferguson1st Worcester1/26/2023Angelo L. D'Emilia8th Plymouth2/2/2023David Allen Robertson19th Middlesex2/6/2023Susannah M. Whipps2nd Franklin2/8/2023Paul McMurtry11th Norfolk2/15/2023Colleen M. Garry36th Middlesex2/16/2023Natalie M. Higgins4th Worcester3/14/2023Michael O. MooreSecond Worcester3/15/2023 1 of 4
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 211 FILED ON: 1/11/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2205
By Representative Kane of Shrewsbury, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2205) of
Hannah Kane and others relative to date labels on food packaging of products. Public Health.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 2327 OF 2021-2022.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
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An Act decreasing food waste by standardizing the date labeling of food.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Chapter 94 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition,
2is hereby amended by inserting after section 329 the following new section:-
3 Section 330. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall, unless the context
4clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:
5 “Commissioner”, the commissioner of public health.
6 “Food labeler”, the producer, manufacturer, distributor, or retailer that places a date label
7on food packaging of a product. 2 of 4
8 “Quality date”, a date voluntarily printed on food packaging that is intended to
9communicate to consumers the date after which the quality of the product may begin to
10deteriorate, even as the product may still be acceptable for consumption.
11 “Ready-to-eat product”, with respect to a product under the federal jurisdiction of the
12U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, a product that is in a form that is edible without additional
13preparation to achieve food safety and may receive additional preparation for palatability or
14aesthetic, epicurean, gastronomic, or culinary purposes and is a poultry product, as defined in
15section 4 of the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 453), a meat food product, as defined
16in section 1 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601), or an egg product, as defined in
17section 4 of the Egg Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 1033). With respect to a food (as
18defined in section 201 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321)) under the
19federal jurisdiction of the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, a food that is normally
20eaten in its raw state or any other food, including a processed food, for which it is reasonably
21foreseeable that the food will be eaten without further processing that would significantly
22minimize biological hazards.
23 “Safety date”, a date printed on food packaging of a ready-to-eat product, which signifies
24the end of the estimated period of shelf life under any stated storage conditions, after which the
25product may pose a health safety risk.
26 (b) If a food labeler includes a quality date on food packaging, the label shall use the
27uniform quality date label phrase “best if used by”, unless and until the commissioner specifies
28through rulemaking another uniform phrase to be used. The decision to include a quality date on
29food packaging shall be at the discretion of the food labeler. 3 of 4
30 (c) The label of a ready-to-eat product shall include a safety date that is immediately
31preceded by the uniform safety date label phrase “expires on”, unless and until the commissioner
32specifies through rulemaking another uniform phrase to be used, if the ready-to-eat product: (1)
33meets the criteria described in subsection (d) and is not exempt under paragraph (2) of subsection
34(e); or (2) is listed in accordance with paragraph (1) of subsection (e).
35 (d) The commissioner shall describe criteria that determine what ready-to-eat products
36may have a high level of risk associated with consumption after a certain date, including those
37that may be high or very high risk for Listeria monocytogenes or other contaminants or
38pathogens causing foodborne illness.
39 (e) The commissioner may, with respect to the products under the commissioner’s
40jurisdiction: (1) list additional ready-to-eat products that are high risk, but do not meet the
41criteria described in subsection (f); or (2) exempt specific ready-to-eat products that meet the
42criteria described in subsection (f), but do not actually pose a high level of risk associated with
43consumption after a certain date.
44 (f) Not less than once every 4 years, the commissioner shall review and, as the
45commissioner determines appropriate, shall update: (1) the criteria described in subsection (f);
46and (2) the list and exemptions described in subsection (g).
47 (g) The quality date and safety date and immediately adjacent uniform quality date label
48phrase or safety date label phrase shall be: (1) in single easy-to-read type style using upper and
49lower case letters in the standard form; (2) located in a conspicuous place on the package of the
50food; and (3) where applicable, stated in terms of day and month and, as appropriate, year. 4 of 4
51 (h) The commissioner shall establish guidance for food labelers on how to determine
52quality dates and safety dates for food products. Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment
53of this act, the commissioner shall provide consumer education and outreach on the meaning of
54quality date and safety date food labels.
55 (i) No one shall prohibit the sale, donation, or use of any product after the quality date for
56the product has passed, but nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit any one from
57establishing or continuing in effect any requirement that prohibits the sale or donation of foods
58based on passage of the safety date. Only safety-based restrictions may be imposed on the sale,
59donation, or use of any product after the quality date has passed. No one shall establish or
60continue in effect any requirement that relates to the inclusion in food labeling of a quality date
61or a safety date that is different from or in addition to, or that is otherwise not identical with, the
62requirements under this section.
63 (j) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit or restrict the use of time-
64temperature indicator labels or similar technology that is consistent with the requirements of this
65section.
66 (k) This section shall apply only with respect to food products that are labeled on or after
67a date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this act.
68 SECTION 2. Section 187 of chapter 94 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016
69Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the twenty-seventh paragraph the
70following paragraph:-
71 “Fifteenth, if it does not bear a label in accordance with section 330 of this chapter.”