Consumer group urges Treasury secretary to require nutrition labeling on alcohol

The National Consumers League called on U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to require the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) to follow through with proposed nutrition labeling rules for alcohol producers by June.

The group, which represents nutrition and consumer-focused lobbying firms, said in a letter to Yellen it has pushed for a “Serving Facts” label on all alcohol products — including the amount of alcohol and calories, serving size and the number of standard drinks per container — for two decades, but that the government bureau that regulates some alcoholic products has ignored the calls.

The National Consumers League pointed to a 2022 letter from the TTB in which the agency committed to publishing three mandatory rules for alcohol producers to follow. At the time, the TTB stated they would be published by the end of 2023, which the consumer group said did not occur. This followed a lawsuit filed by the National Consumers League and two other consumer groups that year aiming to force a labeling requirement.

“We fear the agency may plan to slow-walk deliberations for months and keep consumers from the information they need to make fully informed drinking decisions,” the group said in the letter to Yellen this week.

According to the National Consumers League, consumers would benefit from increased nutritional and alcohol content labeling on products such as wine and spirits. It pointed to the health risks of over-indulging on booze — such as cancers and obesity — and alcohol’s involvement in 30% of car-related deaths.

In a statement, Sally Greenberg, CEO of the National Consumers League, said while the government bureau has routinely taken the stance that nutrition labels are too expensive and time-consuming for alcohol producers, these companies already add labels to select ready-to-drink items.

“The inconvenient truth for the industry is that some of the very same companies whose products do not include a Serving Facts statement if they are regulated by TTB already put complete alcohol labeling on their hard ciders, hard seltzers, wine coolers, and other FDA regulated wines and beers,” Greenberg said.

At press time, TTB and the U.S. Department of the Treasury did not respond to a request for comment.