Earlier this week, TTB announced its intention to hold two virtual listening sessions this month to hear industry concerns regarding alcohol nutritional information, allergens, and ingredients.
Nutritional information, allergen, and ingredients statements are generally not required on alcohol beverages falling within TTB’s labeling jurisdiction. For products that make certain types of nutritional claims, TTB has required a “watered down” version of the nutrition facts panel found on traditional food products (typically called an average analysis or serving facts).
As some may remember, On Reserve wrote about the lack of nutritional information on wine labels about ten years ago. See A Regulatory Analysis: Nutrition Fact Panels and Ingredient Statements on Alcohol Beverages. While this post stimulated some great commentary — and perhaps this type of information was fairly premature at the time — times have changed and consumers increasingly want to know about what they are eating and drinking.
In recent years, many questions have been brought about with respect to consumer awareness and transparency of beverage alcohol labeling. That being said, one may wonder how TTB would categorize certain ingredients. Would the agency look to FDA food labeling regulations at 21 CFR 101 if ingredients (apart from alcohol) were required to be disclosed? Would FDA regulations govern the names of ingredients disclosed on labels? And, if so, how would the agency deal with distinct interpretations with respect to flavorings? Perhaps, once again, these questions are premature but the topic of ingredient disclosure of alcohol beverage products seems ripe.
The goal of the listening sessions is to involve the public, including consumers, public health stakeholders, and members of the industry. These sessions are designed to enhance the public’s capacity to offer insights that can contribute to possible rulemaking.
TTB developed a list of questions that is asks commenters to explore and respond to:
- Do consumers believe that they are adequately informed by the information currently provided on alcohol beverage labels?
- Is alcohol content per serving, and nutritional information (such as calories, carbohydrates, protein, and fat) per serving important for consumers in deciding whether to purchase or consume a particular alcohol beverage? Would a full list of ingredients, and/or major food allergens, be important information for consumers in making their purchasing or consumption decisions? In what ways would this information be useful, and in what ways could it be misleading? Is some of this information more important than others?
- What types of per-serving nutritional information, such as calories, carbohydrates, protein, and fat, should be included?
- Would requiring this information on labels be expected to increase the cost of the products and, if so, by how much? To what extent are businesses already following voluntary guidelines for this information? Are there alternative ways of providing the information, for example by allowing information to be provided through a website using a quick response code (QR code) or website address on the label?
- How would any new mandatory labeling requirements particularly affect small businesses and new businesses entering the marketplace?
Listening sessions will be held:
- Wednesday, February 28, 2024, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. EST (register for February 28 session)
- Thursday, February 29, 2024, 1 to 5 p.m. EST (register for February 29 session)
The deadline to register to virtually attend either session is noon EST, February 27, 2024.
Written comments may also be submitted to TTB. For more information, see Notice No. 232.