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| 1 | AN ACT concerning health.
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| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| 3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | Section 5. The Illinois Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act is | ||||||
| 5 | amended by adding Section 11.5 as follows: | ||||||
| 6 | (410 ILCS 620/11.5 new) | ||||||
| 7 | Sec. 11.5. Standardization of food labeling. | ||||||
| 8 | (a) As used in this Section: | ||||||
| 9 | "Quality date" means a date on a label affixed to the | ||||||
| 10 | packaging or a container of food that communicates to | ||||||
| 11 | consumers the date after which the food quality may begin to | ||||||
| 12 | deteriorate but the food may still be acceptable for | ||||||
| 13 | consumption. | ||||||
| 14 | "Safety date" means a date on a label affixed to the | ||||||
| 15 | packaging or container of food that communicates to consumers | ||||||
| 16 | that the food should be consumed or frozen, if appropriate, by | ||||||
| 17 | the date listed on the package that applies to perishable | ||||||
| 18 | products with potential safety implications over time. | ||||||
| 19 | "Sell by date" means a date on a label affixed to the | ||||||
| 20 | packaging or container of food that is intended to communicate | ||||||
| 21 | primarily to a distributor or retailer for purposes of stock | ||||||
| 22 | rotation and is not a quality date or a safety date. | ||||||
| 23 | (b) The Department of Agriculture, in consultation with | ||||||
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| 1 | the Department of Public Health, shall, on or before July 1, | ||||||
| 2 | 2024, publish information to encourage food manufacturers, | ||||||
| 3 | processors, and retailers responsible for the labeling of food | ||||||
| 4 | products to voluntarily use the following uniform terms on | ||||||
| 5 | food product labels to communicate quality dates and safety | ||||||
| 6 | dates: | ||||||
| 7 | (1) "BEST if Used by" or "BEST if Used or Frozen by" to | ||||||
| 8 | indicate the quality date of a product; and | ||||||
| 9 | (2) "USE by" or "USE by or Freeze by" to indicate the | ||||||
| 10 | safety date of a product. | ||||||
| 11 | (c) The Department of Agriculture shall promote the | ||||||
| 12 | consistent use of the terms specified pursuant to subsection | ||||||
| 13 | (b) in the course of its existing interactions with food | ||||||
| 14 | manufacturers, processors, and retailers. | ||||||
| 15 | (d) In the process of implementing subsection (b), the | ||||||
| 16 | Department shall encourage food distributors and retailers to | ||||||
| 17 | develop alternatives to consumer-facing "sell by" dates. | ||||||
| 18 | (e) The Department may accept nonstate funds from public | ||||||
| 19 | and private sources to educate consumers about the meaning of | ||||||
| 20 | the quality dates and safety dates specified in this Section. | ||||||
| 21 | Funds accepted by the Department pursuant to this subsection | ||||||
| 22 | shall be deposited into the Food and Drug Safety Fund.
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