Pingree, Newhouse Introduce House Bill to Standardize Food Date Labels, Cut Food Waste

Statement

U.S. Representatives Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Dan Newhouse (R-Washington) today introduced the bipartisan Food Date Labeling Act, a bill designed to end consumer confusion around food date labeling and ensure Americans do not throw out perfectly good food. Studies have shown that Americans are confused by food date labels, resulting in a significant amount of edible food ending up in landfills. H.R. 3981 will reduce food waste by standardizing date labels on food products.

"Estimates indicate that around 90% of Americans prematurely throw out perfectly safe food, in part because of confusion about what date labels mean, meanwhile 38.4 million Americans are food insecure," said Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, co-chair of the Bipartisan Food Recovery Caucus. "This bill is an opportunity for the federal government to reduce confusion across the food supply chain and make sure no one is going hungry or inadvertently hurting our environment. With this piece of legislation, we can help ensure food is being used and eaten, rather than thrown out due to confusion."

"Food labeling is important for consumer education, but the current practice is confusing and outdated. This bill takes a step toward reducing food waste by helping consumers understand the meaning behind date labels. The legislation also helps restaurants and grocery stores bridge the gap when it comes to donating food to shelters, food banks and other charitable organizations. I am proud to serve with Representative Pingree as co-chair of the Food Recovery Caucus as we work to help Americans waste less and save money," said Congressman Dan Newhouse (R-Washington).

"Most Americans don't know the "best by' date label on items at the grocery store aren't based on safety or science. These completely arbitrary food date labels are confusing and costly for customers. Our commonsense measure to establish a uniform national date labeling system would provide consumers with clarity--helping them save money on their grocery bills and preventing perfectly safe food from going to waste," said Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) who has introduced the Senate companion bill.

At present, there are no federal regulations related to date labels on food products, aside from infant formula. Date labeling regulations are left up to states, which means consumers are left trying to sort out a patchwork of confounding terms. "Sell by," "use by," "freshest on," and "expires on" are just a few of the phrases currently being used on food products. The bipartisan Food Date Labeling Act establishes an easily understood food date labeling system--"BEST If Used By" communicates to consumers that the quality of the food product may begin to deteriorate after the date and "USE By" communicates the end of the estimated period of shelf life, after which the product should not be consumed. Under the legislation, food manufacturers will decide which food products carry a quality date or a discard date. The Pingree-Newhouse legislation will also allow food to be sold or donated after its labeled quality date, helping more perfectly good food reach those who need it.

Forty percent of all food produced in the U.S. is wasted, costing our nation $161 billion annually. It is estimated that if all food waste represented an individual country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases globally. Domestic food production accounts for 50% of U.S. land use, 80% of fresh water consumption, and 10% of our total energy budget. Consequently, recovering food helps to ensure that the hard work and resources that go into producing food is not wasted.

Pingree has long recognized that food waste reduction is a win-win, bringing both environmental and economic benefits. Pingree first introduced a version of the date labeling bill, as well as the more comprehensive Food Recovery Act, in the 113th Congress. In the spring of 2018, she launched Congress's first-ever Bipartisan Food Recovery Caucus with former Congressman David Young (R-Iowa), on which she currently serves as co-chair with Congressman Newhouse The 2018 Farm Bill included her provisions to create the first full-time food loss and waste liaison at USDA, a composting and food waste reduction pilot program, as well as the Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP) to reduce on-farm waste.

Following a request for study made by Pingree and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) in October 2017, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report with recommendations on how the federal government can expand its efforts to reduce food waste in June. Another GAO report focused on food date labeling will be published this fall.

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