Should that food in your fridge be tossed, because of the date on the packaging? A Ventura County assemblywoman thinks the current labeling is confusing, and she’s trying to fix it.
Let’s say you buy milk, cheese, or maybe bagged lettuce. On the package, it marked “Sell By”. Or, sometimes there’s just a date. But, what exactly does that mean? How long is it good after that? Some people think that after the sell-by date, it’s no good.
But, experts say that isn’t the case, and the end result is people waste food. The group Californians Again Waste estimates that as much as a third of our food supply is wasted every year.
Democratic Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin of Thousand Oaks introduced a bill this week to try to tackle the confusion. AB 660 would require products to have two dates. The first would say “Best if used by” to show peak freshness. The second date would say use by, to show food safety.
If AB 660 is passed, and becomes law, it would take effect in January of 2025.
