January 30th – In Notice No. 232, available today, January 30, 2024, on the Federal Register’s Public Inspection page, and scheduled to be published on January 31, 2024, TTB is announcing two 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.
Virtual listening sessions will be held on the following days:
- February 28, 2024, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. EST (register for February 28 session)
- February 29, 2024, 1 to 5 p.m. EST (register for February 29 session)
The deadline to register to virtually attend either session is noon EST, February 27, 2024. When registering, participants may indicate whether they wish to speak at one of the sessions. Requests to speak during one of the listening sessions must be submitted by noon EST, on February 26, 2024. If all registered speakers have had an opportunity to speak, the session may conclude early.
Written comments may be submitted electronically or via postal mail and must be submitted or postmarked by 11:59 p.m. EST, March 29, 2024, using the instructions provided in Notice No. 232. To view all documents and comments related to this notice, see Docket No. TTB-2024-0002 at Regulations.gov.
To facilitate input from the public, TTB has developed the following list of questions. TTB encourages commenters to explain the rationale behind their comments and to include any available supporting data and other information, as appropriate.
- Do consumers believe that they are adequately informed by the information currently provided on alcohol beverage labels?
- Is alcohol content per serving, and nutritional information (such as calories, carbohydrates, protein, and fat) per serving important for consumers in deciding whether to purchase or consume a particular alcohol beverage? Would a full list of ingredients, and/or major food allergens, be important information for consumers in making their purchasing or consumption decisions? In what ways would this information be useful, and in what ways could it be misleading? Is some of this information more important than others?
- What types of per-serving nutritional information, such as calories, carbohydrates, protein, and fat, should be included?
- Would requiring this information on labels be expected to increase the cost of the products and, if so, by how much? To what extent are businesses already following voluntary guidelines for this information? Are there alternative ways of providing the information, for example by allowing information to be provided through a website using a quick response code (QR code) or website address on the label?
- How would any new mandatory labeling requirements particularly affect small businesses and new businesses entering the marketplace?
Visit TTB.gov for additional details about the listening sessions.
