I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6167 

To establish requirements for quality and discard dates that are, at the 

option of food labelers, included in food packaging, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 7, 2021 

Ms. PINGREE (for herself and Mr. NEWHOUSE) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in 

addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently 

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish requirements for quality and discard dates that 

are, at the option of food labelers, included in food 

packaging, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Food Date Labeling 

5 Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ADMINISTERING SECRETARIES.—The term 

2 ‘‘administering Secretaries’’ means— 

3 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re4 spect to any product that is— 

5 (i) under the jurisdiction of the Sec6 retary of Agriculture; and 

7 (ii)(I) a poultry product (as defined in 

8 section 4 of the Poultry Products Inspec9 tion Act (21 U.S.C. 453)); 

10 (II) a meat food product (as defined 

11 in section 1 of the Federal Meat Inspection 

12 Act (21 U.S.C. 601)); or 

13 (III) an egg product (as defined in 

14 section 4 of the Egg Products Inspection 

15 Act (21 U.S.C. 1033)); and 

16 (B) the Secretary of Health and Human 

17 Services, with respect to any product that is— 

18 (i) under the jurisdiction of the Sec19 retary of Health and Human Services; and 

20 (ii) a food (as defined in section 201 

21 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 

22 Act (21 U.S.C. 321)). 

23 (2) DISCARD DATE.—The term ‘‘discard date’’ 

24 means a date voluntarily printed on food packaging 

25 that signifies the end of the estimated period of shelf 


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1 life under any stated storage conditions, after which 

2 the food labeler advises the product not be con3 sumed. 

4 (3) FOOD LABELER.—The term ‘‘food labeler’’ 

5 means the producer, manufacturer, distributor, or 

6 retailer that places a date label on food packaging 

7 of a product. 

8 (4) QUALITY DATE.—The term ‘‘quality date’’ 

9 means a date voluntarily printed on food packaging 

10 that is intended to communicate to consumers the 

11 date after which— 

12 (A) the quality of the product may begin 

13 to deteriorate; but 

14 (B) the product remains apparently whole15 some food (as defined in subsection (b) of the 

16 Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation 

17 Act (42 U.S.C. 1791(b))). 

18 SEC. 3. QUALITY DATES AND DISCARD DATES. 

19 (a) QUALITY DATES.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—If a food labeler includes a 

21 quality date on food packaging, the label shall use 

22 the uniform quality date label phrase under para23 graph (2). 

24 (2) UNIFORM PHRASE.—The uniform quality 

25 date label phrase under this paragraph shall be 


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1 ‘‘BEST If Used By’’ or, if permissible under sub2 section (c)(3), the standard abbreviation of ‘‘BB’’, 

3 unless and until the administering Secretaries, act4 ing jointly, specify through rulemaking another uni5 form phrase to be used for purposes of complying 

6 with paragraph (1). 

7 (3) OPTION OF THE LABELER.—The decisions 

8 on whether to include a quality date on food pack9 aging and which foods should be so labeled shall be 

10 at the discretion of the food labeler. 

11 (b) DISCARD DATES.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—If a food labeler includes a 

13 discard date on food packaging, the label shall use 

14 the uniform discard date label phrase under para15 graph (2). 

16 (2) UNIFORM PHRASE.—The uniform discard 

17 date label phrase under this paragraph shall be 

18 ‘‘USE By’’ or, if permissible under subsection 

19 (c)(3), the standard abbreviation of ‘‘UB’’, unless 

20 and until the administering Secretaries, acting joint21 ly, specify through rulemaking another uniform 

22 phrase to be used for purposes of complying with 

23 paragraph (1). 

24 (3) OPTION OF THE LABELER.—The decisions 

25 on whether to include a discard date on food packVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:59 Dec 15, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6167.IH H6167

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1 aging and which foods should be so labeled shall be 

2 at the discretion of the food labeler. 

3 (c) QUALITY DATE AND DISCARD DATE LABEL4 ING.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The quality date or discard 

6 date, as applicable, and immediately adjacent uni7 form quality date label phrase or discard date label 

8 phrase— 

9 (A) shall be— 

10 (i) in single easy-to-read type style; 

11 and 

12 (ii) located in a conspicuous place on 

13 the package of the food; and 

14 (B) may be on the label or, at the discre15 tion of the food labeler, elsewhere on the pack16 age. 

17 (2) DATE FORMAT.—Each quality date and dis18 card date shall be stated in terms of day and month 

19 and, as appropriate, year. 

20 (3) ABBREVIATIONS.—A food labeler may use a 

21 standard abbreviation of ‘‘BB’’ and ‘‘UB’’ for the 

22 quality date and discard date, respectively, only if 

23 the food packaging is too small to include the uni24 form phrase described in subsection (a)(2) or (b)(2), 

25 as applicable. 


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1 (4) FREEZE BY.—A food labeler may add ‘‘or 

2 Freeze By’’ following a quality date or discard date 

3 uniform phrase. 

4 (d) EDUCATION.—Not later than 1 year after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act, the administering Secre6 taries, acting jointly, shall provide consumer education 

7 and outreach on the meaning of quality date and discard 

8 date food labels. 

9 (e) EFFECT; PREEMPTION.— 

10 (1) EFFECT ON SALE OR DONATION OF

11 FOODS.—Nothing in this Act or an amendment 

12 made by this Act prohibits any State or political 

13 subdivision of a State from establishing or con14 tinuing in effect any requirement that prohibits the 

15 sale or donation of foods based on passage of the 

16 discard date. 

17 (2) EFFECT ON INFANT FORMULA.—Nothing in 

18 this Act or an amendment made by this Act— 

19 (A) applies with respect to infant formula 

20 (as defined in section 201 of the Federal Food, 

21 Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321)); or 

22 (B) affects the requirements relating to in23 fant formula under section 412 of the Federal 

24 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 

25 350a) or any other applicable provision of law. 


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1 (3) PREEMPTION.—No State or political sub2 division of a State may establish or continue in ef3 fect any requirement that— 

4 (A) relates to the inclusion in food labeling 

5 of a quality date or a discard date that is dif6 ferent from or in addition to, or that is other7 wise not identical with, the requirements of this 

8 Act and the amendments made by this Act; or 

9 (B) prohibits the sale or donation of foods 

10 based on passage of the quality date. 

11 (4) ENFORCEMENT.—The administering Secre12 taries, acting jointly and in coordination with the 

13 Federal Trade Commission, shall ensure that the 

14 uniform quality date label phrase and uniform dis15 card date label phrase are standardized across all 

16 food products. 

17 (5) SAVINGS.—Notwithstanding paragraph (3), 

18 nothing in this Act, any amendment made by this 

19 Act, or any standard or requirement imposed pursu20 ant to this Act preempts, displaces, or supplants any 

21 State or Federal common law rights or any State or 

22 Federal statute creating a remedy for civil relief, in23 cluding a remedy for civil damage, or a penalty for 

24 criminal conduct. 


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1 (f) TIME TEMPERATURE INDICATOR LABELS.— 

2 Nothing in this Act or an amendment made by this Act 

3 prohibits or restricts the use of time-temperature indicator 

4 labels or similar technology that is in addition to or in 

5 lieu of any uniform quality date label phrase under sub6 section (a)(2) or uniform discard date label phrase under 

7 subsection (b)(2). 

8 SEC. 4. MISBRANDING. 

9 (a) FDA VIOLATIONS.—Section 403 of the Federal 

10 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 343) is amend11 ed by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(z) If it is food and its labeling is in violation of 

13 section 3 of the Food Date Labeling Act of 2021.’’. 

14 (b) POULTRY PRODUCTS.—Section 4(h) of the Poul15 try Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 453(h)) is amend16 ed— 

17 (1) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

18 end; 

19 (2) in paragraph (12), by striking the period at 

20 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

21 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(13) if its labeling is in violation of section 3 

23 of the Food Date Labeling Act of 2021.’’. 

24 (c) MEAT PRODUCTS.—Section 1(n) of the Federal 

25 Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601(n)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

2 end; 

3 (2) in paragraph (12), by striking the period at 

4 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(13) if its labeling is in violation of section 3 

7 of the Food Date Labeling Act of 2021.’’. 

8 (d) EGG PRODUCTS.—Section 7(b) of the Egg Prod9 ucts Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 1036(b)) is amended in 

10 the first sentence by inserting ‘‘or if its labeling is in viola11 tion of section 3 of the Food Date Labeling Act of 2021’’ 

12 before the period at the end. 

13 SEC. 5. REGULATIONS. 

14 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

15 of this Act, the administering Secretaries, acting jointly, 

16 shall promulgate final regulations for carrying out this Act 

17 and the amendments made by this Act. 

18 SEC. 6. DELAYED APPLICABILITY. 

19 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

20 apply only with respect to food products that are labeled 

21 on or after the date that is 2 years after the date of pro22 mulgation of final regulations under section 5. 

Æ 


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