Bill > HR6167

This bill, the Food Date Labeling Act of 2021, establishes requirements for voluntary quality and discard dates that food labelers may include on food packaging. It defines "quality date" as the date after which a product's quality may begin to deteriorate, and "discard date" as the end of the estimated shelf life, after which the product should not be consumed. The bill requires the use of standardized phrases like "BEST If Used By" and "USE By" for these dates, and allows for product-specific education and outreach by the administering Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services. The bill also preempts state laws that establish different date labeling requirements, but saves state laws on the sale or donation of food based on discard dates.