ASSEMBLY, No. 3586

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

219th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 25, 2020

 

 

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman  NANCY J. PINKIN

District 18 (Middlesex)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Establishes standards for food date labeling; requires Commissioner of Health to establish public education program and promulgate guidelines related to food safety.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As introduced.

  

An Act concerning food date labels, supplementing Title 24 of the Revised Statutes, and amending P.L.1964, c.62.

 

     Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

     1.    (New section)  As used in sections 1 through 6 of P.L.    , c.    (C.        ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):

     "Elevated-risk date" means the date, established by the manufacturer, indicated on the packaging or container of food after which there is a high level of risk associated with the consumption of the food. 

     "Food" shall have the same meaning as provided in section 2 of P.L.1982, c.178 (C.24:4A-2), but shall exclude alcoholic beverages.

     "Quality date" means a date, established by the manufacturer, indicated on the packaging or container of food after which the quality of the food may begin to deteriorate, but is still acceptable for consumption. 

     "Time/temperature control for safety food" means food that requires time/temperature control for safety in accordance with the United States Food and Drug Administration Food Code, as published in 2013, to limit pathogenic microorganism growth or toxin formation.

 

     2.    (New section)  a.  If a food manufacturer or retail food facilitychooses to include a quality date on food sold or offered for sale in the State, the quality date shall be displayed in accordance with this section.

      b.   The quality date shall:

     (1)   be displayed with the uniform phrase "BEST if Used By"; and

     (2)  be expressed by the first three letters of the month, followed by the numerals designating the appropriate calendar day and year, or by expressing the calendar month numerically followed by numerals designating the calendar day and year.

     c.     This section shall not prohibit or be construed to discourage the sale, donation, or use of food after the food's quality date has passed.

     d.    A retail food facility shall not be liable for a manufacturer's failure to properly label food in accordance with this section.

 

     3.    (New section)  a.  A food manufacturer may include an elevated-risk date on a time/temperature control for safety food sold or offered for sale in the State. 

     b.    An elevated-risk date on food shall:

     (1)   be displayed with the uniform phrase "USE By"; and

     (2)   be expressed by the first three letters of the month, followed by the numerals designating the appropriate calendar day and year, or by expressing the calendar month numerically followed by numerals designating the calendar day and year.

      c.    A retail food facility shall not be liable for a manufacturer's failure to properly label food in accordance with this section.

      d.   A retail food facility shall not sell or donate food after thefood's elevated-risk date.

      e.    The Commissioner of Health may determine whether:

     (1)   additional foods shall be designated astime/temperature control for safety foods;

     (2)   foods shall be exempt from designation as time/temperature control for safety foods.

     The Commissioner of Health shall post any determinations made pursuant to this subsection on the Department of Health's Internet website.

 

      4.   (New section)  a.  A retail food facility shall not sell or offer for sale food that is labeled with a "sell-by" date, or any date that is intended to communicate primarily to a distributor or retailer for purposes of stock rotation and that is not a quality date or an elevated-risk date.

      b.   This section shall not prohibit the use of sell-by dates that are presented in a coded format that is not easily readable by consumers.

 

      5.   (New section)  The Commissioner of Health shall establish a program to educate the public on food date labeling.  The program shall include a public information campaign disseminating information about the meaning of date labels and educating consumers on how to handle food properly and when it can safely be consumed.  This information shall distinguish between quality date labels that measure quality and elevated-risk date labels that indicate safety in order to reduce mistaken reliance on quality labels for judgments of food safety risk. 

 

      6.   (New section)  The Commissioner of Health, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall adopt rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this act.

 

      7.   Section 23 of P.L.1964, c.62 (C.24:10-57.23) is amended to read as follows:

      23.    Containers of milk, certified milk, Vitamin D milk, homogenized milk, low fat milk, protein fortified low fat milk, skim milk, protein fortified skim milk, nonfat milk, protein fortified nonfat milk, flavored milks and dairy drinks, buttermilk, cultured buttermilk, yogurt, eggnog, creams, half-and-half and all other fluid milk products designated by the department shall be marked with the name and address of the processor or the pasteurizing plant number as assigned by the department or the state of origin and the name and address of the distributor.  All containers of fluid milk products, including those mentioned above, intended for sale to consumers, (except for those products which are sterilized and packaged in hermetically sealed containers), shall be [marked with a legend "NOT TO BE SOLD AFTER" , or "SELL BY" , or any other clearly understandable legend approved by the department, followed or accompanied by the first three letters of the month where possible, but in no instance less than two letters, or numerical designation approved by the department to designate the month and the day of the month which shall be a date established by the processor and which shall be based on consideration of wholesomeness and consumer palatability of the product.  If two letters are used the letters MR shall mean MARCH and MY shall mean MAY; JN shall mean JUNE and JL shall mean JULY.  No fluid milk product listed in this section shall be sold or offered for sale after 11:59 p.m. of the date appearing on the containers so marked. 

     The processor, prior to determining the date beyond which any such fluid milk product may not be sold or offered for sale, shall notify the department of the intended "shelf-life expiration date" selected by him for such fluid milk product intended for sale.  All data and material used by the processor or manufacturer in his determination of this date shall be made available to the commissioner upon request.  If the data and material submitted does not, in the opinion of the commissioner, justify the "shelf-life expiration date", the commissioner shall prohibit the sale of the product until such time as satisfactory data is supplied or until a new "shelf-life expiration date" consistent with the data is applied to the product.]  labeled with a quality date, in accordance with P.L.    , c.    (C.        ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

     The department shall periodically review the keeping quality of milk and milk products by scientific [shelf-life] tests, recognizing the different methods of pasteurization, processing and packaging, to determine that [shelf-life expiration] quality dates stated on the containers assure the consumer of acceptable quality milk and milk products when kept under normal storage conditions.  Samples for [shelf-life] quality evaluation will be obtained at the processing plant, from delivery trucks or from retail outlets.  The temperature of the sample at the time of collection shall be officially recorded by the collector. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prohibit the department from taking special samples for analysis and making special tests in order to assure all milk and milk products comply with the minimum standards of freshness, quality and palatability. In the event the department determines a processor's or a manufacturer's [shelf-life] quality date for a given product is improper, the department shall immediately take such samples as are necessary for full and complete recheck of the [shelf-life] quality date of the product.  If the full and complete recheck confirms that the [shelf-life] quality date of the product is improper, the department shall serve written notice on the processor or manufacturer and the processor or manufacturer immediately upon receipt of [such] the notice shall alter the [shelf-life expiration] quality date of the product to comply with the department findings.  Compliance shall be with the next processing of the product after receipt of [such] the department notice.  This rule [does] shall not apply to containers of fluid milk products which are not to be sold in the State of New Jersey.

     As used in this section, "quality date" shall have the same meaning as provided in section 1 of P.L.   , c.   (C.  ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

(cf: P.L.1992, c.151, s.1)

 

      8.   This act shall take effect on July 1, 2019, except that the Commissioner of Health may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance of this date as may be necessary for the implementation of this act.  This act shall become inoperative if a federal food labeling standard that preempts this act is adopted and becomes effective.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     This bill would establish standards for food date labeling and require the Department of Health to establish a public education program and guidelines related to food safety. 

     Under the bill, a manufacturer may use food date labeling, but is required, if food date labels are used, to follow the labeling standards provided in the bill.  A food date label may indicate either:  (1) a "quality date" to indicate the date after which the quality of food may begin to deteriorate, but is still acceptable for consumption; or (2) an "elevated-risk date" to indicate the date, established by the manufacturer, after which there is a high level of risk associated with the consumption of a "time/temperature control for safety food."  The bill defines a "time/temperature control for safety food" as a food that requires time/temperature control for safety, in accordance with the 2013 United States Food and Drug Administration Food Code, to limit pathogenic microorganism growth or toxin formation.  Quality dates would be displayed with the uniform phrase "BEST if Used By" and elevated-risk dates would be displayed with the uniform phrase "USE By."

     Under the bill, a retail food facility would not be liable for a manufacturer's failure to properly label food in accordance with the bill.  Nothing in the bill would prohibit the sale, donation, or use of food after the food's quality date has passed.  However, a retail food facility would be prohibited from selling or donating food after its elevated-risk date.  A retailer would also be prohibited from selling food labeled with a "sell-by" date, or any date that is intended to communicate primarily to a distributor or retailer for purposes of stock rotation and that is not a quality date or an elevated-risk date, unless the date is in a coded format not easily readable by consumers. 

     The bill would also change the labeling requirements that must be used for fluid milk products from "sell by" or "not to be sold after" to a quality date label as described above.  Alcoholic beverages would be exempt from the bill's provisions. 

     The bill allows the Department of Health to designate additional foods as time/temperature control for safety foods, or exempt foods from the designation.  The department would post this information on its Internet website. 

     The bill would also require the establishment of a public education program, which would include a public information campaign about the meaning of date labels, and educating consumers on how to handle food properly and when it can safely be consumed.