Here is a fact that upends Taiwanese intuition: US federal law does not require date labeling on general foods. Taiwan’s logic is “no expiry date, get fined”; the US logic is that date marks are essentially the maker’s own quality promise — the only federally mandated category is infant formula. That is why US shelves carry Best By, Use By, Sell By and Enjoy By side by side: nobody is breaking a rule; there simply is no uniform one. So can exporters skip the date? Not so fast.
No federal rule does not mean nobody cares
Three forces police your date label in practice:
- The channel: supermarkets and e-commerce receiving docks enforce remaining-shelf-life thresholds — an unclear date or too little life left on arrival means rejection, which bites earlier than any regulation
- State law: date labeling is state turf and rules differ; selling into a state means reading that state
- Print it, own it: once a date is on the package it is part of the label — wrong, altered, or inconsistent with actual quality can constitute misbranding
California 2026: two phrases only
The state layer’s headline is California. US date language had grown chaotic — Sell By was a restocking cue for staff, but consumers read it as an expiry and threw good food away. California’s law effective 2026 narrows legal wording to two phrases:
- “BEST if Used By” — a quality date: past it, flavor may fade; safety is not the claim
- “USE By” — a safety date: past it, consumption is not advised
Confusing formats like Sell By are retired. For Taiwanese exporters the implication is direct: goods bound for California channels need the new wording, and California is big enough that national retailers tend to adopt its standard for all packaging — converting once, early, is cheaper than running two label sets.
The three date mistakes Taiwanese exporters make
- Format: US convention is month/day/year; Taiwan writes year/month/day or day/month/year. “03/05/2027” reads as March 5 in the US — if you meant May 3, your shelf life just silently shrank two months. The safe move is an English month abbreviation (MAR 05 2027); nobody misreads it
- Placement: the date must sit where it can be found and matched to its phrase — inkjet on a crimped seal that cannot be read is as good as absent
- False conversion: copying the Taiwanese expiry date straight into BEST if Used By is the common shortcut — the two are defined differently. A quality date should come from your own shelf-life data; a straight copy can needlessly shorten your sellable window, or overpromise
Date marks are one cell of the panel — the allergen rules on the same face changed in 2023 too; see the nine major allergens.
How SKYCARGO takes it from there
SKYCARGO INC holds FDA and USDA agent status and can act as your Importer of Record and consignee. On date-label projects we do two things: check the label before shipping — wording against target states (California above all), formats that cannot be misread, thresholds your channel enforces; then plan the freight — how much shelf life the ocean leg consumes and whether air freight protects the receiving window. Label and logistics calculated together — so a legal label does not arrive on goods the channel refuses. Personal shopping shipments home belong with Shiptw consolidation.
Heading for US retail? Tell us the products, shelf life and target states and we will reply within one business day with a labeling-and-freight recommendation.
This article summarizes US date-labeling practice and California’s 2026 rules for reference only. Confirm specifics with current state publications and formal advice for individual cases.
