Do you drink alcoholic beverages and live in the US? Would you like to have more clear labelling of ingredients, nutritional labels, and additives on alcoholic products?
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) is announcing virtual listening sessions to receive input from the public on labeling of wine, distilled spirits, and malt beverages to disclose per-serving alcohol and nutritional information, major food allergens, and/or ingredients. The Department of the Treasury's February 2022 report on “Competition in the Markets for Beer, Wine, and Spirits” recommended that TTB revive or initiate rulemaking in these areas. These listening sessions are intended to engage the public, including consumers, public health stakeholders, and industry members of all sizes, and facilitate the public's ability to provide input to inform rulemaking. This notice sets forth the dates and times of the virtual listening sessions and instructions for registration. It also opens a docket for submitting written comments on the issues to be discussed in the listening sessions.
Have you ever picked up an alcoholic product like wine and wanted to know if it has added flavors and sugars? Are you a tequila drinker frustrated by the lack of disclosure about abocantes or additives like caramel coloring, sugar syrups, etc.? Are you a WHISKY drinker that's frustrated about that? Do you enjoy rum, but want to move on from brands that add a ton of sugar to their rum after distillation? Do you drink sweet wine, but want to know if you're actually drinking real wine, or just a wine cocktail? Do you have to be careful drinking, because there are many alcoholic products that have things you're allergic to but are not disclosed on the label, like colorings, preservatives, or other additives?
SUBMIT A FORMAL COMMENT at the above link by March 29th to have your voice heard! You can also submit anonymously, all you need to put is your email!
My wonderful spouse, who I love very much, set a phone alarm to remind him to send drunk texts to his friends this evening, and ensured that he would be appropriately drunk (0.086%, currently) by consulting a blood alcohol calculator that factored in change over time. He was worried that this level of planning was against the spirit of Drunk Texts, but I assured him it was not.