Nutrition Labeling Coming Soon?

[scohar]

Did you guys see the posting at Lehrman Beverage Law? FDA is imposing nutrition labeling soon for spirits... I sure would like to hear how the small craft distillers (like me) plan to address this.

From the TTB:

On March 23, 2010, the President signed the health care reform legislation into law. Section 4205 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 requires restaurants and similar retail food establishments with 20 or more locations to list calorie content information for standard menu items on restaurant menus and menu boards, including drive-through menu boards. Other nutrient information – total calories, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrates, sugars, fiber and total protein – would have to be made available in writing upon request.

More info at:

Lehrman BelLaw Blog

[Jay G]

Did you guys see the posting at Lehrman Beverage Law? FDA is imposing nutrition labeling soon for spirits... I sure would like to hear how the small craft distillers (like me) plan to address this.

From the TTB:

More info at:

Lehrman BelLaw Blog

I believe that this will be a good change. I hope it extends so far as to include a requirement for spirits to include ingredients on the labels. No offense, but far too many beers and spirits have unnecessary ingredients added, or ingredients that may cause problems for diabetics or people with health problems added. With that concern, I think it will be easier for small craft distillers to handle this - send it to a lab and get tested - than large distillers who may have something to hide (glucose, preservatives, etc.)

Of course, I look at this from a business perspective of any business being required to add on additional labeling. The food industry as a whole has dealt with this already, this does not seem like that large of a leap, although it will increase some labeling costs.

[scohar]

I believe that this will be a good change. I hope it extends so far as to include a requirement for spirits to include ingredients on the labels.

Apart from the increased labeling costs, our labels will be pretty boring: water, grain, yeast, malt. Rheinheitsgebot minus the hops!

:-)

[Scott @ Twenty2Vodka]

i guess i've heard chatter of this for a while. Though, the link says specific label requirements are coming because menus have to report the calories. This is kind of a connection, but by no means a driver. Is there an actual movement to require distillers to post nutrition info on the labels? I'm just finally recouping my one-time-fees for plate charges and such, and would like to go as long as possible without have to change the plates because some suit and tie in Washington thought it was a good idea....

[porter]

I don't see much of a change in the initial stages.

When was the last time you saw 'Catoctin Creek Distilling' or any item by brand name on a whiskey/brandy/vodka menu? AND as the law reads currently, only firms with 20 or more RETAIL locations will have to disclose the information. So, if you don't have more than 19 business under a single name, don't worry. If you're big enough to have over 20 company owned locations, it won't matter to you anyway as you aren't 'artisan' any more.

For food service or bars with more than 20 location, they will have to disclose the nutrition info for a Manhattan, Bloddy Mary, etc.

This could mean places like the company owned bars at Holiday Inn, Hilton, Marriott, etc. will start to lease out their bars to shell companies in order to keep under the 20 limit.

Works just like the rest of health care in the new Obama-nation, over 15 employees and you have to provide it, fire 1 and you don't.

If/When they make it mandatory for the labels of alch beverages to contain nutritional info, then things change.

Even then, there will be only one set of nutritional values for vodka, one for whiskey, one for brandy, etc. as there aren't any sugar contents, just alchohol. The value for 100proof is the same as 80proof. Only changes when you got to adding other ingredients such as for liquers and things.

But as for now, I understand why folks haven't discussed it much. There just isn't any real effect to the artisan distillery, yet.

[Chris Martin]

Well, at least the low carb dieters will like "zero carbohydrates."

[delaware_phoenix]

Two or three years back, TTB put out a call for comment regarding nutritional labeling for alcoholic beverages. It was a very long document. Some of the majors have been asking to put such information on their labels so they can use that as a marketing ploy. CSPI (Center for Science in the Public Interest), a lobbying group has been pushing for this for years. They're also the ones that got calorie information at the fast food places.

None of this will help the people that are overweight since all the foods will still have their HFCS, dextrin, "natural flavor" and other insidious ingredients that corporate processed food contains.