# What the Voluntary Food Climate Labeling Act Does

This bill creates a new optional labeling system that food companies can use to tell shoppers how much greenhouse gas pollution was created to make their products. The Environmental Protection Agency would design a label showing the climate impact of food throughout its entire lifecycle—from growing ingredients and manufacturing to packaging, shipping, storage, and even what happens after you throw away the packaging. Companies that want to participate would apply for permission to use this label, and only those approved by the EPA could display it on their products.

The label itself would show two numbers: one covering the emissions from growing, processing, packaging, and delivering the food, and another covering emissions from storage, retail display, how you store it at home, and disposal. The label would include a QR code that lets you scan it with your phone to see detailed information about the product's climate footprint and any commitments the company has made to reduce emissions. Importantly, the label wouldn't say a product is "good" or "bad"—it would just give you the numbers so you can compare products yourself.

To make sure the information is accurate, the EPA would establish standards for how companies measure and verify these emissions numbers, using scientific methods already accepted internationally. Companies would be responsible for proving their own numbers are correct, while the EPA would verify the second set of numbers about storage and disposal. The bill also requires the EPA to create a public database with all this information, provide technical help to companies trying to participate, and run an education campaign to help shoppers understand what the labels mean. If a company fraudulently uses the label without permission or provides false information, they could face civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation.