Labels on alcohol could soon feature more thorough information on allergens and nutritional value, if a set of new proposals from the U.S. Treasury Department is approved.
On Friday the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or TTB, published a couple of proposed rules: One that would add an “Alcohol Facts” box — akin to “Nutrition Facts” on food products — to drinks, and another would require companies to disclose if alcohol contains any major food allergens.
Public health and consumer advocates have been trying for years to get clearer labeling on alcohol, which has long been excluded from regular food label requirements since it is regulated by TTB rather than the Food and Drug Administration. While the proposals wouldn’t force alcohol makers to list all of the ingredients that go into their products, they would increase the amount of information available to drinkers.
“The proposals represent a momentous step toward ensuring consumers have access to the information they need to make informed choices, follow health guidelines, and avoid allergic reactions,” Eva Greenthal, senior policy scientist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said in a statement.
The new allergen rule would require labels to flag any milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, soybeans, and sesame — or proteins derived from them — used in the production process. The Alcohol Facts box would include information on serving sizes, calories, carbohydrates, protein, and fats. This label would need to be on physical containers of alcohol, per the proposals.
If made final, alcohol companies would have five years to become compliant with the rules. TTB will accept public feedback on the proposals until mid-April.
Some in the industry have argued for the use of QR codes or links, while public health advocates say it creates more barriers to accessing key information.
When asked about the new rule, the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. said in a statement: “Distilled spirits companies should have flexibility in how to provide this information to consumers including the use of on-label QR codes or website references. Overcrowded labels have been shown to not be helpful for consumers and do not serve the need of informing them adequately.”
Beverages that don’t already disclose alcohol content, such as wines under 14% ABV and some very low-alcohol spirits, would need to. Nonalcoholic spirits and malt beverages (with less than 0.5% ABV) wouldn’t require a label change, since they already list alcohol content.
An Alcohol Facts panel would need to include the alcohol content of a drink, in fluid ounces of pure alcohol per serving. “Thousands of consumers” told TTB that “per-serving alcohol content is important to help people understand how much alcohol they are consuming,” the notice said.
Public health authorities in the U.S. define standard drink sizes based on the amount of pure ethyl alcohol, regardless of the kind of beverage. A 5-ounce glass of 12% ABV wine is equal to a 12-ounce beer with 5% ABV, or a 1.5-ounce shot of 40% ABV liquor — all have 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 is not proposing that alcoholic beverage labels include information on standard drinks as defined by health authorities, since consumers may get confused about the difference between serving sizes and standard drinks. Instead, it is proposing a serving size of 1.5 fluid ounces for spirits and beer above 24% ABV, 2.5 fluid ounces for drinks (wine, beer, and spirits) above 16%-25% ABV, 5 fluid ounces for drinks above 7%-16% ABV, and 12 fluid ounces for spirits and beer up to 7% ABV.
The labels also won’t need to include drinking advice from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, since those can change every five years, though TTB is seeking public input on whether to require the information.
For decades, women have been advised to not have more than one drink per day (two per day for men). Guidelines could shift as information emerges on the health effects of alcohol. In just the past month, three separate reports have warned of a link between “moderate” drinking — within the bounds of the 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 submitted a citizen petition calling for label transparency. Four years later, TTB suggested adding alcohol content and nutritional information to labels, but never finalized the rule. In 2013, the agency declared alcohol companies could voluntarily add information about serving sizes while TTB mulled the issue over.
In 2021, consumer groups and public health advocates wrote a letter asking TTB to make the call on adding “serving facts” to alcohol. The next 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 hosted public hearings on alcohol labeling issues in early 2024.
Late last year, the agency submitted three proposals — one on allergens, another on labeling and advertising, and a third about ingredient labeling — up the ladder for approval.
The ingredient labeling item is still under review to determine if it is needed. Proponents say consumers have a right to know what is in their drink, especially since some alcoholic products may contain additives, dyes, or chemicals common in ultra-processed foods. Even a Treasury report, commissioned by the Biden administration to improve competition in the beer, wine, and spirits markets, recommended ingredient labeling and mandatory nutritional disclosures.
“The proposals will go a long way towards ending the alcohol labeling exceptionalism that has prevailed in the market,” Thomas Gremillion, director of food policy at the Consumer Federation of America, said in a news release.
Adding an ingredients list would remove one more key element of that exceptionalism, he said.
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