>It will require the use of “Best if Used By” label to signal peak quality and “Use By” label for product safety
Who are these people that were confused by "Best by" but understand "best if used by"?
Who are these people that were confused by "Best by" but understand "best if used by"?
The law literally is about the wording.
- “Last consumption date” (maybe not safe to eat after this date) - “Best before” - these days they sometimes also add “.. but often good after”
Probably the people who have noticed that they aren't used consistently to mean the same thing between brands or even between skus within the same brand.
Now the words are the same, but still determined completely arbitrarily.
That's the point it's not arbitrary under the new law. 'Best by' will mean peak quality and 'use by' will mean the last date safety is guaranteed. Previously 'best by' had no relationship to quality and was just a made up date to convince people their items were spoiling faster than they were. I suppose 'peak quality' for the best by date might feel arbitrary, but at least will need to be somewhat justified now.
I understand that the linked article is paywalled, but it's pretty easy to find other sources that aren't by googling words from the headline.
Literally the only thing that changed is the wording allowed if you choose to label with a Best by date.
I link the actual law ab660 elsewhere in this thread if you want to look at it.
I think it's wild how much misinformation and confusion there is about this minor change. I blame this on the legislature trying to hype up their nothing law into some major achievement, and news agencies shamelessly trying to make a story out of it.