Requires certain labelling to be used to indicate the safety dates and quality dates of food items; requires the department of agriculture and markets to educate consumers about such provisions.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7291
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 25, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. REYES -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Agriculture
AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to food
safety and quality date labelling requirements
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The agriculture and markets law is amended by adding a new
2 section 214-p to read as follows:
3 § 214-p. Food safety and quality date labelling requirements. 1. (a)
4 Beginning on and after July first, two thousand twenty-seven, a food
5 manufacturer, processor, or retailer engaging in the labeling of food
6 items for human consumption that chooses, or is otherwise required by
7 law, to display a date label to communicate a quality or safety date on
8 a food item shall use the following uniform terms on such date label:
9 (i) "USE by" or "USE by or Freeze by" to indicate the safety date of
10 the food item;
11 (ii) "BEST if Used by" or "BEST if Used or Frozen by" to indicate the
12 quality date of the food item;
13 (iii) "UB" to indicate the safety date of the food item if such food
14 item is too small to include a uniform term under subparagraph (i) of
15 this paragraph; or
16 (iv) "BB" to indicate the quality date of the food item if such food
17 item is too small to include the uniform term under subparagraph (ii) of
18 this paragraph.
19 (b) No person or other entity shall sell or offer for sale in the
20 state any food item for human consumption manufactured on or after July
21 first, two thousand twenty-seven, that displays a food date label that
22 is not labeled in accordance with paragraph (a) of this subdivision.
23 (c) No person or other entity shall sell or offer for sale in the
24 state a food item for human consumption manufactured on or after July
25 first, two thousand twenty-seven, that is labeled with the phrase "sell
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11136-01-5
A. 7291 2
1 by". This paragraph shall not prohibit the use of "sell by" dates that
2 are presented in a coded format, that are not easily readable by consum-
3 ers, and that do not use the phrase "sell by".
4 2. (a) A person or other entity that is responsible for placing a food
5 safety or quality date on a food product shall estimate the shelf life
6 of such food product, using a scientifically valid method as deemed
7 acceptable by the department in consultation with the department of
8 health, taking into consideration the quality, characteristics, formu-
9 lation, processing impact, packaging or container and other protective
10 wrapping or coating, and typical transportation, storage, and display
11 conditions of such food product.
12 (b) Considerations under paragraph (a) of this subdivision shall also
13 include those of the retail store and consumer. For purposes of estimat-
14 ing shelf life, home storage conditions shall be considered similar to
15 the usual retail store, except that refrigerated food may be calculated
16 using a home temperature storage standard of forty-five degrees Fahren-
17 heit. Such factors shall be measured or otherwise determined utilizing
18 testing and sampling procedures customarily utilized by the food indus-
19 try for such purposes.
20 3. (a) The department shall update its website to educate consumers
21 about the meaning of safety dates and quality dates under this section.
22 (b) The department shall conduct specific outreach activities:
23 (i) targeting, but not limited to, the following:
24 (1) wholesalers, retailers, grocery stores, and corner stores;
25 (2) food donation groups such as food banks and food recovery organ-
26 izations; and
27 (3) the general population;
28 (ii) regarding:
29 (1) the meaning of safety dates and quality dates under this section;
30 (2) the acceptance of food with labels not complying with this
31 section; and
32 (3) the acceptance of food with date labels past the quality date.
33 (c) The department shall promulgate rules and regulations requiring
34 all wholesalers, retailers, grocery stores, and corner stores to
35 conspicuously post signage informing customers and employees about the
36 meaning of safety dates and quality dates under this section.
37 4. (a) This section shall not apply to infant formula or any alcoholic
38 beverage, as defined by section three of the alcoholic beverage control
39 law.
40 (b) This section shall not prohibit a store from displaying on wine, a
41 distilled spirit, or a wine- or distilled spirit-based product bottled
42 or packaged on or after July first, two thousand twenty-seven, a label
43 with a statement that communicates the date on which such wine,
44 distilled spirit, or wine- or distilled spirit-based product was
45 produced, manufactured, bottled, or packaged, or from selling or offer-
46 ing for sale in the state such wine, distilled spirit, or wine- or
47 distilled spirit-based product with such label. Such statement may use
48 date formats, including, but not limited to, dates in a time, day,
49 month, and year format and Julian dates.
50 (c) To the extent that any other law or a national shellfish sanita-
51 tion program provision governing the labeling of shellfish authorizes or
52 requires the use of terms that conflict, or are inconsistent, with this
53 section, this section shall not apply.
54 (d) This section shall not prohibit, and shall not be construed to
55 discourage, the sale, donation to, or use of consumable food after such
56 food's quality date pursuant to subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of
A. 7291 3
1 subdivision one of this section has passed. A wholesaler or retail food
2 facility may donate a food item for human consumption that is not
3 labeled in accordance with this section or is past the quality date.
4 (e) This section shall not prohibit the use or display of a label that
5 allows consumers to view online information about a food item for human
6 consumption.
7 (f) Unless otherwise required by law, this section shall not be
8 construed to require the use or display of a date label on a food item
9 for human consumption.
10 5. The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of health,
11 shall promulgate any rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the
12 provisions of this section.
13 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
14 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
15 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
16 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made on or
17 before such date.
