Labels on alcohol could soon include more thorough allergen and nutritional information, if so new proposals of the US Treasury Department has been approved.
On Friday, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or TTB, published a pair of proposed rules: one that would add an “Alcohol Facts” box — similar to “Nutritional Facts” on food products — to beverages, and another that would require companies to disclose whether alcohol contains major food allergens.
Public health advocates and consumers have been trying for years to get clearer labeling for alcohol, which has long been excluded from regular food labeling requirements because it is regulated by the TTB rather than the Food and Drug Administration. While the proposals would not force alcohol manufacturers to list all the ingredients in their products, they would increase the amount of information available to drinkers.
“The proposals represent an important step in ensuring consumers have access to the information they need to make informed choices, follow health guidelines and prevent allergic reactions,” said Eva Greenthal, senior policy scientist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. a statement.
The new allergen rule requires labels to mark all milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, soybeans and sesame (or proteins derived from them) used in the manufacturing process. The Alcohol Facts box contains information about portion sizes, calories, carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Under the proposals, this label should appear on physical containers of alcohol.
If the law is made permanent, alcohol companies will have five years to comply with the rules. TTB will accept public feedback on the proposals until mid-April.
Some in the industry have advocated the use of QR codes or links, while public health advocates say this creates more barriers to accessing important information.
When asked about the new rule, the Distilled Spirits Council of the US said in a statement: “Distilled spirits companies should have flexibility in providing this information to consumers, including the use of QR codes on the label or website references . It has been found that overcrowded labels are not useful to consumers and do not meet the need to adequately inform them.”
Drinks that do not already list alcohol content, such as wines with an alcohol content of less than 14% and some low alcohol spirits, should do so. Non-alcoholic spirits and malt drinks (with less than 0.5% ABV) do not require a label change as they already list the alcohol content.
An alcohol facts panel should list the alcohol content of a drink, in fluid ounces of pure alcohol per serving. “Thousands of consumers” told TTB that “alcohol content per serving is important to help people understand how much alcohol they are consuming,” the statement said.
Public health authorities in the US define standard drink sizes based on the amount of pure ethyl alcohol, regardless of the type of drink. A 5-ounce glass of wine at 12% alcohol is equivalent to a 12-ounce beer at 5% alcohol, or a 1.5-ounce shot at 40% alcohol – all contain 14 grams (0.6 fluid ounces) of pure ethyl alcohol. Often containers of alcoholic beverages can contain more than one serving, based on that metric.
However, TTB does not propose that alcoholic beverage labels include information about standard drinks as defined by health authorities, as consumers may be confused about the difference between portion sizes and standard drinks. Instead, it suggests a serving size of 1.5 fluid ounces for spirits and beer above 24% ABV, 2.5 fluid ounces for beverages (wine, beer and spirits) above 16%-25% ABV, 5 fluid ounces for beverages above 7%. -16% ABV, and 12 fluid ounces for spirits and beer up to 7% ABV.
The labels are also not required to include drinking recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, as these can change every five years, although TTB is seeking public input on whether this information is necessary.
For decades, women have been advised to drink no more than one drink per day (two per day for men). Guidelines may change as more information becomes available about the health effects of alcohol. In the past month alone, three separate reports have warned of a link between ‘moderate’ alcohol consumption – within the range of dietary guidelines – and cancer risk. Excessive drinking and binge drinking have been linked to many other health problems, such as liver disease.
Friday’s proposals come after years of back-and-forth between regulators and advocates. In 2003, the Center for Science in the Public Interest filed a citizen petition calling for label transparency. Four years later, TTB proposed putting alcohol content and nutritional information on labels, but the rule was never finalized. In 2013, the agency said alcohol companies could voluntarily add information about portion sizes while TTB considered the issue.
In 2021, consumer groups and public health advocates wrote a letter asking TTB to call for adding “serving facts” to alcohol. The following year, CSPI sued the Treasury Department for failing to act on its 2003 petition. That case continued in U.S. District Court even as TTB held public hearings on alcohol labeling issues in early 2024.
Late last year, the agency submitted three proposals for approval — one on allergens, another on labeling and advertising, and a third on ingredient labeling.
The ingredient label item is still under review to determine if it is necessary. Advocates say consumers have a right to know what’s in their drink, especially since some alcoholic products may contain additives, dyes or chemicals common in ultra-processed foods. Even a treasury reportmandated by the Biden administration to improve competition in beer, wine and spirits markets, recommended ingredient labeling and mandatory nutritional labeling.
“The proposals will go a long way toward ending the alcohol labeling binge prevalent in the marketplace,” Thomas Gremillion, director of food policy at the Consumer Federation of America, said in a news release.
Adding an ingredient list would take away another important element of that exceptionalism, he said.
STAT’s coverage of chronic health conditions is supported by a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies. Us financial supporters are not involved in decisions about our journalism.