General Labeling Requirements
The TTB labeling requirements are codified at Title 27 C.F.R. part 4 for wine, part 5 for distilled spirits, and part 7 for malt beverages. Use of words of geographic significance on wine labels is additionally covered in part 12. The alcohol beverage warning statement is covered in part 16.
The general labeling requirements bear similarities with those of food. For example, a wine label must include the brand name,81 the class of wine,82 name and address of where the wine was bottled or packed preceded by words “bottled by” or “packed by” for American wine or “imported by” or similar term for imported wine,83 the net contents,84 and a declaration of sulfites if a sulfur dioxide or a sulfiting agent is detected at a level of ten or more parts per million.85
However, there are a number of distinctions from food labeling. For example, a wine label must include the alcohol content and there are a number of considerations about the appellation of origin and related terms. The alcohol content is declared as “Alcohol ____% by Vol.” or wineries can use “Table Wine” or “Light Wine” if the alcohol content is 7 percent to 14 percent.86 The class of wine includes terms such as “grape,” “table,” “light,” “white,” “red,” “pink,” “amber,” “rose,” or “dessert” followed by the word “wine.”87 An appellation of origin, such as “Napa Valley” or “Chilean,” is mandatory in certain circumstance where the type, vintage date, or the term “estate” is used.88 On blends consisting of American and foreign wines, if any reference is made to the presence of foreign wine, the exact percentage by volume must be declared.
Label Approval
The TTB reviews and approves alcoholic beverage labels and issues certificates of label approval (COLA) under the authority of 27 U.S.C. § 205(e) and 26 U.S.C. § 5301. The COLA procedures are codified at 27 C.F.R. part 13.
Warning Statement
All alcoholic beverages with 0.5% or more alcohol by volume must bear a warning statement separate and apart from all other information.89 The wording of the warning is the following statement:
GOVERNMENT WARNING: (1) According to the Surgeon General, women should not drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects.
(2) Consumption of alcoholic beverages impairs your ability to drive a car or operate machinery, and may cause health problems.
Wine Coolers versus Flavored Wine
The TTB only regulates those wine products that contain 7 percent or more alcohol. The FDA regulates wine coolers and other non‐malt beverages containing less than 7 percent alcohol by volume. Therefore, wine coolers that purport to contain unfermented fruit or vegetable juice are covered by 21 C.F.R. § 101.30 and are required to bear a percentage juice declaration.
Wine coolers that do not contain unfermented juice are not covered by this requirement unless they purport to contain juice by means of advertising, labeling statements, vignettes, or physical characteristics. Thus, if a wine cooler does not contain any juice, has labeling that makes clear that it contains flavors rather than juice, and does not bear a vignette that implies fruit juice content, it is not subject to 21 C.F.R. § 101.30. Noncarbonated beverages that purport to contain juice—but do not, in fact—contain any juice are required by 21 C.F.R. § 102.30 to state that they contain no juice.90
A Double Standard
The requirement for a percentage juice declaration on wine coolers has been called unfair because the same requirement does not apply to most other alcoholic beverages including spirits‐based and malt‐based coolers, which compete directly against wine coolers. FDA has commented:
The agency advises that the labels of alcoholic beverages (those that contain 7 percent or more alcohol by volume and malt beverages) are regulated in accordance with the Federal Alcohol Administration Act (27 U.S.C. 205) administered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms [now TTB] and are controlled differently from wine coolers. The labeling of wine coolers, like other beverages that contain less than 7 percent alcohol by volume, is regulated under the [Food, Drug, and Cosmetic] act. To the extent that these statutes differ, the products are regulated differently in other labeling aspects as well as in declaration of percentage juice content. It is not up to FDA, but to Congress, to decide that the same requirements must apply to wine coolers, other alcoholic beverages, and malt based beverages.91
NOTES
1 3.34 For more information on alcoholic beverage labeling, visit www.ttb.gov/labeling.
2 3.35 Fruit‐flavored malt beverages versus wine coolers. Wine coolers were popular in the United States in the 1980s. Today, fruit‐flavored malt beverages have largely replaced wine coolers. Economics largely drove this change. Barley malt is cheaper than grapes and taxation on malt beverage is more favorable than wine.
3 3.36 Non‐malt beer. All “malt beverages” with one‐half of 1 percent or more of alcohol by volume fall under the jurisdiction of the FAA Act. However, similar fermented beverages that are not a “malt beverage” fall outside the scope of the FAA Act and, therefore, are not subject to the labeling, advertising, and other provisions of the TTB regulations; for example, sorghum beer with less than 7 percent alcohol. These non‐malt beers are subject to FDA’s ingredient and other labeling requirements. Sake and similar beverages, when they contain at least 7 percent alcohol by volume, fall within the definition of “wine” under the FAA Act, and thus, are subject to TTB regulations and the requirements of the FAA Act.
3.10 USDA FSIS
The FDA labeling requirements apply to all foods except meat, poultry, and egg products. The USDA Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) regulates the labeling of most meat, poultry, and egg products. USDA regulation of the labeling of meat, poultry, and egg products generally parallels those for FDA‐regulated foods. One most important distinction is that most USDA‐regulated products require FSIS label approval prior to marketing.
3.10.1 Labeling Approval
FSIS’s labeling approval regulation, 9 C.F.R. § 412.1, states in part: “No final label may be used on any product unless the label
