I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4233 
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act relating to freshness 
dates on food. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 15, 2007 
Mrs. LOWEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act 
relating to freshness dates on food. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Food Freshness Dis-
closure Act of 2007’’. 
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SEC. 2. FEDERAL FOOD, DRUG, AND COSMETIC ACT; RE-
QUIREMENT OF INCLUSION OF FRESHNESS 
DATE ON FOOD LABELING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 403 of the Federal Food, 
Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 343) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(z) Except as provided in subparagraph (6), unless 
its label bears information on freshness in accordance with 
the following: 
‘‘(1) The label of the food states a date upon 
which the food will no longer be fresh (in this para-
graph referred to as the ‘freshness date’). The 
freshness date is a date selected by the manufac-
turer, packer, or distributor of the food on the basis 
of tests and other information showing that the 
food, until that date, under the conditions of han-
dling, storage, preparation, and use prescribed by 
label directions, will— 
‘‘(A) when consumed contain not less than 
the quantity of each nutrient set forth in the 
food label in accordance with paragraph (q) and 
with section 101.9(g)(4) of title 21, Code of 
Federal Regulations; and 
‘‘(B) otherwise be not adulterated and of 
an acceptable quality. 
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‘‘(2) The freshness date is stated in terms of 
the day and month if the product will not be fresh 
after three months on the shelf or in terms of the 
month and year if the product will be fresh for more 
than three months on the shelf. The day, month, 
and year are declared in uncoded numerical se-
quence, except that the month may be indicated by 
letters. 
‘‘(3) The phrase ‘best if used by’ precedes the 
freshness date. 
‘‘(4) On the label, the freshness date is— 
‘‘(A) in single easy-to-read type style using 
upper and lower case letters in the standard 
form; 
‘‘(B) in a type size no smaller than 8 
point; and 
‘‘(C) located in a conspicuous place on the 
package of the product. 
‘‘(5) The freshness date is on the containers of 
any food sent to the seller of such food to con-
sumers. 
‘‘(6) The requirements of subparagraphs (1) 
through (4) shall not apply to any food that, under 
section 101.9(j) of title 21, Code of Federal Regula-
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tions, is exempt from the nutrition labeling require-
ments of section 101.9 of such title.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) takes effect upon the expiration of the 180- 
day period beginning on the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
Æ 
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