Champagne

The move would apply transparency to a full range of alcoholic beverages, potentially changing how people buy and consume most beer, wine and liquor. It would ...

“There needs to be a long road for implementation whatever the solution.” For ease and appearance, trade groups representing nearly every alcoholic beverage raised the idea of QR codes on alcohol labels that would link to the required information, rather than a large nutrition facts panel modeled on food nutrition labeling. “Labeling for ingredients that went through the distillation process and are no longer present in the final product might introduce consumer confusion, rather than mitigate it.” The TTB, which regulates labeling for malted beverages like beer as well as alcohol greater than 7 percent by volume, did not respond to a request for comment on future labeling rulemaking. For example, brewers that release a seasonal brew–such as a Christmas Ale or Oktoberfest – may have a slightly different formulation each year but use the same spices. Upping the ante, CSPI and other consumer [groups sued the government](https://www.cspinet.org/resource/alcohol-labeling-complaint) to act on their petition in October. “There has to be some flexibility in it for small batch products,” he said. The move toward mandatory labeling also comes as the market for alcohol shifted dramatically during the pandemic. The move would apply transparency to a full range of alcoholic beverages, potentially changing how people buy and consume most beer, wine and liquor. Producers of most wine, beer and spirits have never been required to fully disclose on the bottle or can what’s in their products. Although the government initiated a rulemaking process in 2005, it never finalized rules beyond guidelines for voluntary labeling. But the plan to establish rules for alcohol labels is already stirring up pressure from the industry, which fears overly prescriptive requirements could be onerous, particularly for smaller breweries, distilleries and winemakers, even though some producers already voluntarily include certain information.