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1See page 3 of the report, available at https://

home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/CompetitionReport.pdf. 

2 Id. at page 61. 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade 

Bureau 

27 CFR Parts 4, 5, 7, 24, 25, and 27 

[Docket No. TTB–2025–0002; Notice No. 

237] 

RIN 1513–AC93 

Alcohol Facts Statements in the 

Labeling of Wines, Distilled Spirits, 

and Malt Beverages 

AGENCY: Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and 

Trade Bureau, Treasury. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax 

and Trade Bureau (TTB) proposes to 

require disclosure of per-serving 

alcohol, calorie, and nutrient content 

information in an ‘‘Alcohol Facts’’ 

statement on all alcohol beverage labels 

subject to TTB’s regulatory authority 

under the Federal Alcohol 

Administration Act (FAA Act). This 

rulemaking responds to the Department 

of the Treasury’s February 2022 report 

on ‘‘Competition in the Markets for 

Beer, Wine, and Spirits,’’ which 

recommended that TTB revive or 

initiate rulemaking on alcohol content, 

nutritional content, and appropriate 

serving sizes for alcohol beverage labels. 

Pursuant to its authorities under both 

the FAA Act and the Internal Revenue 

Code of 1986, TTB is also proposing 

mandatory alcohol content statements 

for certain types of malt beverages, beer, 

and wine that are not currently required 

to be labeled with an alcohol content 

statement. TTB proposes a compliance 

date of 5 years from the date that a final 

rule resulting from this proposal is 

published in the Federal Register. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before April 17, 2025. 

ADDRESSES: You may electronically 

submit comments to TTB on this 

proposal, and view copies of this 

document, its supporting materials, and 

any comments TTB receives on it within 

Docket No. TTB–2025–0002 as posted at 

https://www.regulations.gov. A direct 

link to that docket is available on the 

TTB website at https://www.ttb.gov/ 

laws-and-regulations/all-rulemaking 

under Notice No. 237. Alternatively, 

you may submit comments via postal 

mail to the Director, Regulations and 

Ruling Division, Alcohol and Tobacco 

Tax and Trade Bureau, 1310 G Street 

NW. Box 12, Washington, DC 20005. 

Please see the Public Participation 

section of this document for further 

information on the comments requested 

regarding this proposal and on the 

submission, confidentiality, and public 

disclosure of comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Curtis Eilers, Regulations and Rulings 

Division, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and 

Trade Bureau, 1310 G Street NW, Box 

12, Washington, DC 20005; telephone 

202–453–1039, ext. 041. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(4), a 

summary of this rule may be found at 

https://www.regulations.gov/docket/ 

TTB-2025-0002. 

I. Background 

On July 31, 2007, TTB published 

Notice No. 73, a proposed rule entitled 

‘‘Labeling and Advertising of Wines, 

Distilled Spirits and Malt Beverages’’ in 

the Federal Register (72 FR 41860). In 

that document, TTB proposed to amend 

the TTB regulations to set forth 

requirements for mandatory alcohol 

content labeling and for the presentation 

of certain calorie and nutrient 

information in a mandatory ‘‘Serving 

Facts’’ panel. The proposed Serving 

Facts panel would also have included 

information about the number of 

servings per container and the serving 

size. TTB did not finalize the 

rulemaking; however, on May 28, 2013, 

TTB published TTB Ruling 2013–2, 

Voluntary Nutrient Content Statements 

in the Labeling and Advertising of 

Wines, Distilled Spirits, and Malt 

Beverages. The ruling announced that 

alcohol beverage labels could include 

Serving Facts statements on a voluntary 

basis while the Bureau continued to 

consider the proposed rule. TTB 

withdrew the Serving Facts rulemaking 

from the Unified Agenda of Federal 

Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions in 

the fall of 2017. 

In 2021, TTB received a letter, dated 

February 24, 2021, from several 

consumer groups and public health 

advocates, urging TTB to finalize the 

Serving Facts rulemaking. The letter 

was submitted on behalf of the Center 

for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), 

Alcohol Justice, the American Institute 

for Cancer Research, Breast Cancer 

Prevention Partners, the Consumer 

Federation of America, the National 

Consumers League, and the U.S. 

Alcohol Policy Alliance. This 

rulemaking document will refer to the 

letter as the ‘‘2021 CSPI letter.’’ 

On February 9, 2022, the Department 

of the Treasury, in consultation with the 

Department of Justice and the Federal 

Trade Commission, released a report 

entitled ‘‘Competition in the Markets for 

Beer, Wine, and Spirits’’ (Competition 

Report). The Competition Report was 

requested by Executive Order 14036, 

‘‘Promoting Competition in the 

American Economy.’’ One of the 

Competition Report’s findings was that 

‘‘[r]egulatory proposals that could serve 

public health and foster competition by 

providing information to consumers, 

such as mandatory allergen, nutrition, 

and ingredient labeling proposals, have 

not been implemented.’’ 1 The 

Competition Report contains several 

recommendations, including that ‘‘TTB 

should revive or initiate rulemaking 

proposing ingredient labeling and 

mandatory information on alcohol 

content, nutritional content, and 

appropriate serving sizes.’’ 2

Consistent with the Competition 

Report’s recommendations, and 

considering the February 2021 letter 

referenced above, TTB decided to revisit 

the issue of mandatory nutritional 

information and expanded alcohol 

content information for alcohol 

beverages. Because it has been almost 20 

years since TTB solicited comments on 

this issue, TTB published Notice No. 

232, which announced two virtual 

listening sessions, on February 28 and 

29, 2024, and the opening of a docket 

to receive public input on labeling of 

wine, distilled spirits, and malt 

beverages with per-serving alcohol and 

nutritional information, major food 

allergens, and/or ingredients. TTB 

received over 5,000 written comments 

in response to Notice No. 232 and heard 

from 47 speakers during the listening 

sessions. 

TTB is now publishing for public 

comment a new proposal that would 

require ‘‘Alcohol Facts’’ labeling for 

wines, distilled spirits, and malt 

beverages that provides alcohol and 

nutritional information, per serving, for 

these products on labels. TTB is 

addressing the Competition Report’s 

recommendations and Notice No. 232 

comments from the listening sessions on 

mandatory allergen and ingredient 

labeling in separate rulemaking projects. 

II. TTB’s Authority To Regulate Alcohol 

Beverage Labeling 

As set forth below, TTB has broad 

authority to regulate the labeling of 

alcohol beverages under Chapter 51 of 

the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (IRC) 

and under the labeling provisions of the 

Federal Alcohol Administration Act 

(FAA Act), 27 U.S.C. 205(e). TTB 

administers these IRC and FAA Act 

provisions pursuant to section 1111(d) 

of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, 

codified at 6 U.S.C. 531(d). In addition, 


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the Secretary of the Treasury (the 

Secretary) has delegated certain 

administrative and enforcement 

authorities to TTB through Treasury 

Order 120–01. 

A. TTB’s Authority Under the IRC 

Chapter 51 of the IRC (26 U.S.C. 5001 

et seq.) imposes taxes on distilled 

spirits, wines, and beer, and provides 

the Secretary authority to regulate the 

marking and labeling of containers of 

these alcohol beverages, to protect the 

revenue associated with those taxes. 

The tax rates differ depending on the 

classification of the product, and the 

marking and labeling requirements 

support the proper determination of tax 

liability based on the identity of the 

product. Thus, this authority is based, 

in part, on the Secretary’s responsibility 

to classify, and collect taxes on, alcohol 

beverages under the IRC. 

For example, 26 U.S.C. 5301 

authorizes the Secretary to regulate the 

branding and marking of distilled spirits 

containers whenever in his or her 

judgment such action is necessary to 

protect the revenue. Other provisions 

authorize the Secretary to regulate the 

marking, branding, and labeling of wine 

and beer. See 26 U.S.C. 5368 and 5412. 

Section 5555 requires every person 

liable for any tax imposed by Chapter 51 

of the IRC to comply with such rules 

and regulations as the Secretary may 

prescribe. Finally, 26 U.S.C. 7805(a) 

provides the Secretary with the 

authority to prescribe all needful rules 

and regulations for the enforcement of 

the IRC. 

B. TTB’s Authority Under the FAA Act 

Section 105(e) of the FAA Act, 27 

U.S.C. 205(e), sets forth standards for 

the regulation of the labeling of wine 

(containing at least 7 percent alcohol by 

volume), distilled spirits, and malt 

beverages that will be sold or otherwise 

introduced in interstate or foreign 

commerce. This document generally 

refers to these products as ‘‘alcohol 

beverages’’ or ‘‘alcohol beverage 

products.’’ 

This section gives the Secretary the 

authority to issue labeling regulations to 

prevent deception of the consumer, to 

provide the consumer with ‘‘adequate 

information’’ as to the identity, quality, 

and alcohol content of the product, and 

to prohibit false or misleading 

statements. Additionally, the FAA Act 

authorizes the Secretary to prohibit, 

irrespective of falsity, labeling 

statements relating to age, 

manufacturing processes, analyses, 

guarantees, and scientific or irrelevant 

matters that are likely to mislead the 

consumer. In the case of malt beverages, 

the labeling provisions of the FAA Act 

apply only if the laws or regulations of 

the State into which the malt beverages 

are to be shipped impose similar 

requirements. 

The FAA Act generally requires 

bottlers and importers to obtain a 

certificate of label approval (COLA) 

from TTB prior to bottling wine, 

distilled spirits, or malt beverages for 

introduction into interstate commerce, 

or removing alcohol beverages from 

customs custody, in bottles, for sale or 

any other commercial purpose. The law 

provides that COLAs are to be issued in 

such manner and form as the Secretary 

shall prescribe by regulations. 

C. Legislative History of the FAA Act 

The legislative history of the FAA Act 

provides some insight concerning the 

general purpose of the FAA Act’s 

labeling provisions. In hearings before 

the House Committee on Ways and 

Means in 1935, Joseph Choate from the 

Federal Alcohol Control Administration 

noted that the purpose of the bill was 

‘‘to provide such regulations, not laid 

down in statute, so as to be inflexible, 

but laid down under the guidance of 

Congress, under general principles, by a 

body which could change them as 

changes were found necessary.’’ Mr. 

Choate also noted that those regulations 

were intended to ensure that 

the purchaser should get what he thought he 

was getting . . . . They should not be 

confined, as the pure-food regulations have 

been confined, to prohibitions of falsity, but 

they should also provide for the information 

of the consumer, that he should be told what 

was in the bottle, and all the important 

factors which were of interest to him about 

what was in the bottle. [Emphasis added.] 

See Hearings on H.R. 8539 Before the H. 

Comm. on Ways and Means, 74th Cong., 

1st Sess. 10 (1935) (statement of Joseph 

H. Choate, Jr., Federal Alcohol Control 

Administration). 

D. Calorie and Nutrient Labeling 

The FAA Act expressly conveys broad 

discretion to the agency and leaves it 

with the flexibility to prescribe such 

labeling regulations ‘‘as will provide the 

consumer with adequate information’’ 

as to, among other things, the products’ 

‘‘identity and quality’’ and ‘‘net 

contents.’’ 27 U.S.C. 205(e). In 1986, in 

the context of ingredient labeling, the 

D.C. Circuit recognized that the 

obligation under the FAA Act ‘‘to 

ensure that disclosure is adequate 

squarely implicates discretionary 

judgment on the part of the Secretary.’’ 

Center for Science in the Public Interest 

v. Department of the Treasury, 797 F.2d 

995, 999 n.2 (D.C. Cir. 1986), citing 

Wawszkiewicz v. Department of the 

Treasury, 670 F.2d 296, 300 (D.C. Cir. 

1981) (footnote omitted)). 

Accordingly, the D.C. Circuit upheld 

the actions of TTB’s predecessor, the 

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and 

Firearms (ATF), in issuing a final rule, 

T.D. ATF–150 (48 FR 45549, October 6, 

1983), which rescinded ingredient 

labeling regulations that had not yet 

taken effect. The court held that there 

was no ‘‘plain meaning of the phrase 

‘adequate information’ which indicates 

Congress’ intent as to whether the FAA 

Act either requires or prohibits 

ingredient disclosure regulations.’’ Ctr. 

for Sci. in the Pub. Int., 797 F.2d at 999 

n.2. The court upheld ATF’s conclusion 

that the FAA Act ‘‘vests it with a zone 

of discretion within which it can choose 

to require or not require ingredient 

disclosure, as necessary to provide 

consumers with adequate information.’’ 

Id. It is TTB’s view that rulemaking on 

calorie and nutrient labeling similarly 

falls within the Secretary’s discretion to 

determine whether such information is 

necessary to provide consumers with 

‘‘adequate information’’ about the 

product. 

E. Alcohol Content Labeling 

The statutory requirements with 

respect to disclosure of alcohol content 

on labels differ among the three alcohol 

beverage categories. The FAA Act 

authorizes the Secretary to issue 

regulations that require alcohol content 

statements on labels of distilled spirits 

products. 27 U.S.C. 205(e)(2). The FAA 

Act also authorizes the Secretary to 

require alcohol content statements only 

for wines with an alcohol content of 

over 14 percent alcohol by volume, 

leaving such statements optional for 

wines with an alcohol content at or 

below 14 percent. Finally, the FAA Act 

contains language that specifically 

prohibits placement of alcohol content 

statements on malt beverage labels, 

unless required by State law, but in 

1995 the Supreme Court struck that ban 

on First Amendment grounds in Rubin 

v. Coors Brewing Co., 514 U.S. 476 

(1995). 

F. Alcohol Beverages Subject to FDA 

Labeling Regulations 

Alcohol beverages that fall under the 

definitions of distilled spirits, wine, or 

malt beverages in the FAA Act are not 

subject to the Nutrition Facts 

regulations promulgated by the U.S. 

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 

under 21 U.S.C. 343(q). In 1987, TTB’s 

predecessor agency, the Bureau of 

Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), 

and the FDA entered into a 

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), 

which continues in effect. See Notice 


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3Alcohol beverages intended for human 

consumption that contain at least 0.5 percent 

alcohol by volume are also subject to the health 

warning statement requirements of the Alcoholic 

Beverage Labeling Act of 1988 (ABLA). See 27 

U.S.C. 215. However, this document does not 

propose changes to the regulations implementing 

ABLA. 

4ATF previously considered the issue of 

requiring calorie and nutrient information on 

alcohol beverage labels but did not implement rules 

on this issue. On August 10, 1993, ATF published 

an advance notice of proposed rulemaking 

(ANPRM) in the Federal Register soliciting 

comments from the public on whether the 

regulations should be amended to require nutrition 

labeling for alcohol beverages. See Notice No. 776 

(58 FR 42517). The ANPRM was issued in response 

to a petition that cited, among other things, the 

Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990, 

which mandates nutrition labeling for most FDAregulated foods. For a detailed description of the 

rulemaking history concerning nutrition labeling on 

alcohol beverages, see TTB Notice No. 41, 70 FR 

22274 (April 29, 2005). 

No. 648 (52 FR 45502, November 30, 

1987). In the MOU, both agencies 

recognized that ‘‘ATF will be 

responsible for the promulgation and 

enforcement of regulations with respect 

to the labeling of distilled spirits, wine, 

and malt beverages pursuant to the FAA 

Act.’’ The MOU also stated that ‘‘ATF 

and FDA will consult on a regular basis 

concerning the propriety of 

promulgating regulations concerning the 

labeling of other ingredients and 

substances for alcoholic beverages.’’ 

Thus, alcohol beverages that are not 

distilled spirits, wines, or malt 

beverages, as defined in the FAA Act, 27 

U.S.C. 211, are subject to the ingredient 

labeling, nutrition labeling, and allergen 

labeling regulations administered by the 

FDA. However, these products remain 

subject to the regulations enforced by 

TTB under the IRC.3 Therefore, to the 

extent that this NPRM addresses the 

labeling regulations under the FAA Act, 

which are found in 27 CFR parts 4, 5, 

and 7, it does not apply to alcohol 

beverages subject to FDA labeling 

regulations. However, to the extent that 

this NPRM proposes to amend the IRC 

regulations regarding alcohol content 

statements for certain beers and wines, 

those amendments would also affect 

alcohol beverages subject to FDA 

labeling regulations. 

III. Background on ‘‘Alcohol Facts’’ 

Statements 

A. 2003 Petition for Alcohol Facts Label 

and Ingredient Labeling 

On December 16, 2003, CSPI, the 

National Consumers League, 67 other 

organizations, and 8 individuals, 

including 4 deans of schools of public 

health, filed a petition (the ‘‘2003 

petition’’) requesting that TTB amend 

the alcohol beverage labeling 

regulations.4 After receipt of the 2003 

petition, additional individuals wrote to 

TTB requesting the addition of their 

names to the petition. The petition 

requested that TTB require that labels of 

all TTB-regulated alcohol beverages 

include the following information in a 

standardized format: 

• The beverage’s alcohol content 

expressed as a percentage of alcohol by 

volume; 

• A standard serving size; 

• The amount of alcohol (in fluid 

ounces) contained within each standard 

serving; 

• The number of calories per standard 

serving; 

• The ingredients (including 

additives); 

• The number of standard drinks per 

container; and 

• The current definitions of moderate 

drinking for men and women published 

in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 

issued jointly by the Department of 

Health and Human Services and the 

Department of Agriculture. 

The petitioners proposed that all 

alcohol beverage containers bear this 

information on an ‘‘Alcohol Facts’’ 

panel. The petitioners provided the 

following example for a 750 mL bottle 

of wine: 

The petition asked that the words 

‘‘Alcohol Facts’’ be immediately 

followed by a declaration of the number 

of standard drinks (servings) per 

container. The petitioners asked, 

consistent with the then-current version 

of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 

that a serving should be defined as 12 

fluid ounces of beer, 5 fluid ounces of 

wine, and 1.5 fluid ounces of 80-proof 

distilled spirits. The petitioners further 

recommended that for alcohol beverages 

not fitting into one of those standard 

categories (for example, a malt liquor 

containing eight percent alcohol by 

volume), a serving should be defined as 

an amount of fluid containing 

approximately 0.5 fluid ounces of ethyl 

alcohol. The petitioners recommended 

that a consistent graphic symbol (for 

example, a beer mug, wine glass, or shot 

glass) should appear first, followed by 

the number of drinks in the container 

(for example, ‘‘Contains 5 Servings’’). 

The petition proposed requiring this 

information on labels of all malt 

beverage, wine, and distilled spirits 

products under TTB jurisdiction, and 

that the graphics and type size for the 

Alcohol Facts label should follow the 

Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 

1990 standards set out in the FDA 

regulations at 21 CFR 101.9(d). Further, 

the petitioners stated that ingredient 

information should appear on the label 

immediately below, but segregated from, 

the Alcohol Facts panel, and that 

ingredient statements should include 

information about allergens. 

According to the petitioners, current 

TTB regulatory requirements forced 

consumers to guess about the number of 

calories in alcohol beverages and their 

alcohol content. The petitioners 

summarized the results of a September 

2003 telephone study of 600 Americans, 

ages 18 and older, which they stated 

was nationally representative. 


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5References to alcohol beverage products as being 

low in calories or carbohydrates were considered 

misleading by TTB’s predecessor agency in 1955. 

See Revenue Ruling 55–404, 1955–1, C.B. 615. In 

the 1960s, after consultations with FDA, the 

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division determined that 

products labeled as low calorie or low carbohydrate 

could include statements of average analysis, as 

well as truthful comparisons between a low-calorie 

product and that of an equal volume of the brewer’s 

regular beer. See ATF Ruling 76–1. In subsequent 

rulings, ATF modified certain policies with respect 

to malt beverage labeling statements and announced 

its intention to engage in rulemaking on the use of 

the terms ‘‘light’’ and ‘‘lite’’ on malt beverage labels. 

See ATF Ruling 79–17, ATF Q.B. 1979–3, 3, and 

ATF Ruling 80–3, ATF Q.B. 1980–2, 13. 

According to the study, 91 percent of 

respondents supported requiring 

ingredient labeling on alcohol 

beverages; 94 percent supported 

requiring alcohol content on alcohol 

beverage labels; 89 percent supported 

requiring calorie content on alcohol 

beverage labels; and 84 percent 

supported requiring serving size 

information on alcohol beverage labels. 

B. 2004 Informal Request for Comments 

Following the 2003 petition, an 

alcohol beverage industry member 

contacted TTB about voluntarily 

labeling products with nutrient and 

other information on a ‘‘Serving Facts’’ 

panel. Subsequently, TTB received 

other requests from industry members to 

include similar information on product 

labels. 

In response to these requests, in 2004, 

TTB twice posted on its website a 

request for comments on voluntary 

Serving Facts panels. In response to the 

two postings, TTB received several 

comments reflecting strong and varying 

opinions. A significant proportion of 

those who commented felt that the issue 

should be addressed in public notice 

and comment rulemaking rather than in 

a TTB ruling. Furthermore, many 

commenters believed that certain 

elements of a Serving Facts panel would 

tend to confuse or mislead consumers 

about alcohol beverage products. In 

light of the issues that the commenters 

raised, TTB decided to publish an 

advance notice of proposed rulemaking 

in 2005, as discussed further below. 

C. Statements of Average Analysis (TTB 

Ruling 2004–1) 

On April 7, 2004, TTB published 

guidance to the industry on ways that 

calorie and carbohydrate references 

could be provided in a non-misleading 

way in the labeling and advertising of 

alcohol beverages. Ruling 2004–1, 

Caloric and Carbohydrate 

Representations in the Labeling and 

Advertising of Wine, Distilled Spirits, 

and Malt Beverages clarified TTB’s 

position with respect to statements 

about calorie and carbohydrate content 

on labels and in advertisements of 

wines, distilled spirits, and malt 

beverages and set forth TTB’s policy on 

the use of truthful and non-misleading 

nutrient statements in the labeling and 

advertising of alcohol beverages.5

TTB Ruling 2004–1 provided, in part, 

that calorie or carbohydrate 

representations on product labels or in 

advertisements would be considered 

misleading unless they include a 

‘‘statement of average analysis’’ that lists 

the number of calories and the number 

of grams of carbohydrates, protein, and 

fat contained in the product based on a 

single serving. In Frequently Asked 

Questions published on TTB’s website 

shortly after the ruling, TTB clarified 

that this policy did not apply to 

advertisements where the only caloric 

or carbohydrate representation 

appearing in the advertising materials is 

a brand name incorporating the term 

‘‘light’’ or ‘‘lite.’’ However, if the brand 

or product name, or the advertising 

material in general, included any 

additional caloric or carbohydrate 

representations such as ‘‘low carb’’ or 

‘‘low calorie,’’ any specific calorie or 

carbohydrate claims, or similar 

representations, the provisions of the 

ruling regarding a statement of average 

analysis would apply. 

For purposes of inclusion in the 

statement of average analysis, TTB 

Ruling 2004–1 defined a single serving 

as 12 fluid ounces for malt beverages, 5 

fluid ounces for wine, and 1.5 fluid 

ounces for distilled spirits, regardless of 

the alcohol content of the product. The 

ruling allowed the statement of average 

analysis to be stated per container size 

only if the container is equal to or less 

than a single serving size. The ruling 

did not authorize the appearance of 

additional information in the statement 

of average analysis. 

D. 2005 Advance Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking 

On April 29, 2005, TTB published an 

advance notice of proposed rulemaking, 

Notice No. 41, in the Federal Register 

(70 FR 22274), entitled ‘‘Labeling and 

Advertising of Wines, Distilled Spirits, 

and Malt Beverages; Request for Public 

Comment.’’ Notice No. 41 sought public 

comment on a wide range of alcohol 

beverage labeling and advertising issues 

to help TTB determine what regulatory 

changes in alcohol beverage labeling 

and advertising requirements, if any, 

TTB should propose in future 

rulemaking documents. Specifically, 

TTB sought comments on the 2003 

petition’s request for Alcohol Facts 

panels and ingredient labeling, the 

Serving Facts panel presented in TTB’s 

informal request for comments, and 

each panel’s elements. Additionally, 

TTB requested comments on allergen 

labeling and the labeling of calorie and 

carbohydrate claims, such as ‘‘light’’ 

and ‘‘low-carbohydrate.’’ 

TTB received more than 19,000 

comments in response to Notice No. 41 

from consumers, consumer advocacy 

groups, government officials, alcohol 

beverage industry members and 

associations, health organizations, and 

other concerned individuals. This 

included over 18,500 consumers who 

responded to Notice No. 41 indicating 

that they would like to see additional 

information on alcohol beverage labels. 

IV. 2007 Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking 

Following a review of the comments 

submitted in response to Notice No. 41, 

TTB published Notice No. 73, a 

proposed rule entitled ‘‘Labeling and 

Advertising of Wines, Distilled Spirits 

and Malt Beverages’’ in the Federal 

Register (72 FR 41860) on July 31, 2007. 

TTB proposed to amend parts 4, 5, 7, 

and 24 of the TTB regulations to set 

forth requirements for mandatory 

alcohol content labeling and for the 

presentation of certain calorie and 

nutrient information in a mandatory 

Serving Facts panel. The proposed 

Serving Facts panel would have 

included information about the number 

of servings per container and the serving 

size as well as the number of calories 

and the number of grams of 

carbohydrate, fat, and protein per 

serving. It would also have allowed the 

mandatory alcohol content statements to 

appear in the panel as a percentage of 

alcohol by volume, with or without an 

additional statement of the fluid ounces 

of alcohol per serving. 

TTB received more than 700 

comments on the various issues 

presented in Notice No. 73. Commenters 

included consumers, consumer 

advocacy groups, health professionals, 

health organizations, State and Federal 

agencies, and industry members and 

associations. The comments on the 

proposals outlined in Notice No. 73 

expressed various points of view. A 

number of comments opposed, or 

suggested modifications of, the various 

elements proposed to appear in the 

Serving Facts panels. TTB received 

several comments about the costs 

associated with the mandatory 

proposals, particularly with regard to 

mandatory nutrient labeling 

requirements. TTB also received several 

comments on regulatory amendments 

that were not specifically proposed in 


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that document, such as using the title 

‘‘Alcohol Facts’’ instead of the title 

‘‘Serving Facts,’’ and requiring a 

statement of fluid ounces of alcohol per 

serving as part of the mandatory alcohol 

content statement. TTB did not finalize 

the rulemaking and, following guidance 

in 2013 allowing voluntary depictions 

of Serving Facts information (discussed 

below), withdrew it from the Unified 

Agenda of Federal Regulatory and 

Deregulatory Actions in the fall of 2017. 

V. TTB Public Guidance on Optional 

Serving Facts Statements 

A. Optional Serving Facts Statements 

(TTB Ruling 2013–2) 

On May 28, 2013, TTB issued Ruling 

2013–2 to permit the use of Serving 

Facts statements on labels and in 

advertisements. The ruling provided 

that statements of average analysis that 

complied with the requirements of TTB 

Ruling 2004–1 may continue to be used 

on labels and in advertisements. 

In TTB Ruling 2013–2, TTB further 

stated that it would allow the use of 

optional Serving Facts statements on 

labels and in advertisements on an 

interim basis pending the completion of 

rulemaking. TTB explained that it was 

making this change to allow industry 

members to provide truthful, accurate, 

and specific information to consumers 

about the nutrient content of their 

products on a per-serving basis. 

Although TTB already allowed nutrient 

content information to appear on labels 

and in advertisements in the form of a 

statement of average analysis, TTB was 

aware that some alcohol beverage 

industry members were interested in 

voluntarily labeling their products with 

this information in a Serving Facts 

statement such as the one proposed in 

Notice No. 73. TTB reminded industry 

members that the issuance of final 

regulations on Serving Facts statements 

might impact their labels. 

TTB also noted that the serving sizes 

recognized by TTB Ruling 2004–1 for 

wines, distilled spirits, and malt 

beverages may not always be 

representative of how all products are 

typically consumed. For example, a 355 

mL (12 fl oz) can containing a distilled 

spirits specialty product with 5 percent 

alcohol by volume would not generally 

be consumed in 1.5 fl oz servings. 

Although the serving size found in a 

nutrient content statement is not 

intended as a recommended serving 

amount, TTB believed it was 

appropriate to consider alternative 

serving sizes for products depending on 

their alcohol content. The serving size 

chart provided in the ruling (reproduced 

below) applies to all voluntary Serving 

Facts statements. 

Serving size 

Alcohol percent by volume 

Wine Distilled spirits Malt beverages 

1.5 fl oz (44 ml), or 50 ml for 50 ml containers of distilled spirits............................................. Above 24% ........................ Above 24%. 

2.5 fl oz (74 ml) ............................................................... Above 16 to 24% ............... Above 16 to 24% ............... Above 16 to 24%. 

5 fl oz (148 ml) ................................................................ 7 to 16% ............................ Above 7 to 16% ................. Above 7 to 16%. 

12 fl oz (355 ml) .............................................................. ............................................ Not more than 7% ............. Not more than 7%. 

TTB Ruling 2013–2 reiterated that 

statements or representations of calorie 

or carbohydrate content that are made 

on labels or in advertisements must be 

truthful, accurate, specific, and nonmisleading. TTB stated that such 

statements are misleading within the 

meaning of the applicable regulations 

when not accompanied by a statement 

of average analysis in accordance with 

Ruling 2004–1 or a Serving Facts 

statement in accordance with TTB 

Ruling 2013–2. The other elements of 

Ruling 2004–1 continued in force, and 

statements of average analysis without 

an accompanying Serving Facts 

statement may continue to be used. 

TTB Ruling 2013–2 also permitted the 

listing of the number of U.S. fluid 

ounces of pure ethyl alcohol per serving 

as part of a Serving Facts statement, as 

long as the statement also includes the 

percentage of alcohol by volume. Under 

this guidance, industry members may 

also include a Serving Facts statement 

that provides no alcohol content 

information, or alcohol content only as 

a percentage of alcohol by volume. The 

ruling also noted that the distilled 

spirits regulations authorize the 

inclusion of an optional statement of 

alcohol content in degrees of proof if it 

appears in direct conjunction with the 

percent of alcohol by volume statement. 

As noted above, industry members may 

also continue to use a statement of 

average analysis, which does not 

contain any alcohol content 

information. Finally, industry members 

who do not make nutrient content 

claims on labels or in advertisements 

are not required to include a Serving 

Facts statement or a statement of 

average analysis. 

Pursuant to TTB Ruling 2013–2, a 

Serving Facts statement appearing on a 

label or advertisement must be stated 

per serving and specify the serving size 

as part of the statement (unless the 

container is equal to or less than a single 

serving size, in which case the Serving 

Fact statement may be stated per 

container size). If a container holds 

more than a single serving size, the 

Serving Facts statement may appear in 

a dual-column format, which provides 

information both per serving and per 

container. 

The ruling provided that certain 

Serving Facts statements would not 

require a new COLA application if the 

only label change was to provide the 

voluntary Serving Facts statement, and 

provided examples of formats for which 

that exception would apply. 

Additionally, the ruling did not specify 

required fonts or type sizes, although it 

did provide the following graphics to 

illustrate an acceptable panel display for 

a 750 mL bottle of wine containing 14 

percent alcohol by volume, with and 

without optional alcohol content 

information. 


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The following Serving Facts statement 

is an example from TTB Ruling 2013– 

2 that illustrates an acceptable linear 

display for a 50 mL bottle of distilled 

spirits containing 40 percent alcohol by 

volume and includes all three optional 

alcohol content statements. 

The following graphic illustrates an 

acceptable Serving Facts statement for a 

23.5 fluid ounce malt beverage can 

containing 12 percent alcohol by 

volume and includes the optional 

alcohol content statements. 

Finally, the ruling provided the 

following panel to illustrate an 

acceptable dual-column display for a 24 

fluid ounce malt beverage containing 12 

percent alcohol by volume and 

including the optional percent-byvolume alcohol content declaration as 

well as the optional declaration of 

alcohol in fluid ounces. 


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6See FAQs SUG1–SUG5, available at 

www.ttb.faqs/alcohol. 

B. Frequently Asked Questions on TTB’s 

Website 

In Frequently Asked Questions 

(FAQs) published on the TTB website 

after publication of TTB Ruling 2013–2, 

TTB provided further guidance on 

acceptable formats for Serving Facts 

statements. Subsequently, TTB also 

issued FAQs that permitted the use of 

an optional ‘‘Alcohol Facts’’ statement 

for industry members who wish to 

provide per-serving alcohol content 

information without including any 

nutrient content statements or claims. 

The FAQs state that this information 

should be provided under the heading 

‘‘Alcohol Facts,’’ to distinguish it from 

a ‘‘Serving Facts’’ statement, and must 

include the serving size (in accordance 

with TTB Ruling 2013–2), the number of 

servings per container, and the 

percentage of alcohol by volume 

together with a numerical statement of 

the number of fluid ounces of pure ethyl 

alcohol per serving (rounded to the 

nearest tenth). The FAQs note that 

industry members who wish to make 

any type of nutrient content statement 

or claim on the label or advertisement, 

along with optional per-serving alcohol 

content information, should use a 

Serving Facts statement in accordance 

with TTB Ruling 2013–2. 

In 2014, TTB issued FAQs on the use 

of sugar content statements on labels. 

The FAQs set forth TTB’s policy that 

truthful, accurate, and non-misleading 

numerical statements about the sugar 

content of a product are permitted on 

alcohol beverage labels and in 

advertisements.6 Sugar is a type of 

carbohydrate; accordingly, a sugar 

content statement is not considered 

misleading if the label bears either a 

statement of average analysis in 

accordance with TTB Ruling 2004–1, or 

a Serving Facts statement in accordance 

with TTB Ruling 2013–2, and the 

serving size on which the sugar content 

statement is based is consistent with the 

applicable serving size under those 

rulings. If a serving contains less than 

0.5 g of sugar, the label may include a 

claim such as ‘‘Zero Sugar,’’ ‘‘No 

Sugar,’’ or ‘‘Sugar Free.’’ 

C. Tolerances and Other Laboratory 

Procedures 

1. TTB Procedure 2004–1 

TTB Procedure 2004–1 set forth the 

methods that TTB used to test the 

calorie, carbohydrate, protein, and fat 

content of wine, distilled spirits, and 

malt beverages in order to verify 

labeling and advertising claims. This 

procedure also addressed tolerance 

ranges with regard to statements of 

calorie, carbohydrate, protein, and fat 

content. TTB Procedure 2004–1 applied 

to statements of average analysis, as 

well as Serving Facts statements. As 

described further below, this procedure 

was superseded by TTB Procedure 

2020–1, which updated the lab testing 

methods as well as the tolerance for 

calorie statements. 

2. 2020 Revisions of Tolerances 

In 2020, TTB reviewed its calorie 

tolerance standards in response to a 

request from industry members. The 

industry members suggested that 

broader tolerances for calorie content 

would facilitate the increased use of 

voluntary nutrient content statements in 

the labeling and advertising of alcohol 

beverages, both by allowing for 

expanded variations in calorie content 

between batches of a product and by 

facilitating the use of databases and 

‘‘typical value’’ charts in lieu of 

laboratory analysis as a basis for 

nutrient content statements. 

TTB decided to expand the tolerances 

for calories to achieve greater 

consistency with FDA tolerances for 

calorie statements on food package 

labels under FDA’s jurisdiction and to 

facilitate industry members’ ability to 

provide truthful, accurate, and nonmisleading voluntary nutrient content 

information to consumers. However, 

TTB noted that TTB tolerances and 

policies will still differ in some ways 

from FDA labeling regulations, as well 

as FDA’s menu labeling requirements, 

due to differences in statutory and 

regulatory authorities. 

Accordingly, TTB published TTB 

Ruling 2020–1 and TTB Procedure 

2020–1 (which superseded TTB 

Procedure 2004–1 in its entirety). Under 

the new guidance, a calorie statement 

on a label or in an advertisement is 

acceptable as long as the calorie content, 

as determined by TTB analysis, is 

within a reasonable range below the 

labeled or advertised amount (within 

good manufacturing practice 

limitations) and not more than 20 

percent above the labeled or advertised 

amount. For example, a labeling or 

advertising statement of 100 calories per 

serving will be considered an acceptable 

understatement if TTB analysis of the 

product shows a calorie content of not 

more than 120 calories per serving. 

Industry members also asked if they 

may express calories to the nearest 10- 

calorie increment for per-serving 

amounts above 50 calories (and to the 

nearest 5-calorie increment for perserving amounts up to and including 50 

calories) to be more consistent with 

FDA requirements. In response to this 

request, TTB Ruling 2020–1 provides 

that calorie statements on labels and in 

advertisements may, but are not 

required to, be rounded to the nearest 

10-calorie increment (for per-serving 

amounts above 50 calories) or the 

nearest 5-calorie increment (for perserving amounts up to 50 calories), as 

long as the labeled or advertised calorie 

content falls within the tolerances 

described in this ruling. Thus, for 

example, regardless of whether the 

calories per serving for a particular 

product are expressed as 98 calories or 

100 calories, the labeled or advertised 

calorie statement must be within the 

prescribed tolerance for the value that is 

expressed. TTB continued to allow 


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7Available at https://www.beerinstitute.org/ 

policy-responsibility/policy/voluntary-disclosure/, 

accessed on November 4, 2024. 

8Available at https://www.beerinstitute.org/pressreleases/new-report-shows-beer-leads-all-alcoholcategories-in-providing-nutritional-information-toconsumers/. 

9See https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/aboutdietary-guidelines, accessed on November 4, 2024. 

10Available at https://www.Dietary

Guidelines.gov/sites/default/files/2021-03/Dietary_

Guidelines_for_Americans-2020-2025.pdf. 

11 Id. at page 62. 

12 Id. at page 49. 13 Id. 

amounts less than 5 calories to be 

expressed as zero. 

The 2020 guidance did not change the 

tolerances for other nutrients. Under 

TTB Procedure 2004–1, TTB already 

allowed a 20 percent tolerance for 

understatements of carbohydrate and fat 

content, and a 20 percent tolerance for 

overstatements of protein content. 

Overstatements of carbohydrate and fat 

content, and understatements of protein 

content, are acceptable as long as the 

actual content, as determined by TTB 

analysis, is within a reasonable range of 

the labeled or advertised amount 

(within good manufacturing practice 

limitations). TTB Procedure 2020–1 

maintained those tolerances. Similarly, 

the 2020 update did not affect the 

regulatory tolerances for alcohol content 

statements, expressed as a percentage of 

alcohol by volume, which are set forth 

in the regulations at 27 CFR 4.36, 5.65, 

and 7.65. 

TTB noted that the 2020 guidance 

would not require any changes to 

approved labels but would instead 

allow greater flexibility for industry 

members who choose to use voluntary 

nutrient content statements on labels or 

in advertisements. 

At the time TTB was asked to review 

its calorie tolerance standard in 2020, 

industry members also asked TTB about 

the use of databases or typical value 

charts (rather than laboratory analysis) 

as a basis for nutrient content 

statements in the labeling and 

advertising of alcohol beverages. 

Although industry members may 

conduct laboratory analyses to 

determine nutrient content, they may 

also choose to rely on an appropriate 

combination of analyses and other 

sources to accurately label their 

products, including databases and 

typical value charts. TTB’s regulations 

do not require industry members to 

analyze each batch of a product prior to 

making voluntary nutrient content 

statements. Regardless of what approach 

industry members take, it is their 

responsibility to ensure that the labeling 

and advertising statements are reliable 

and accurate and fall within the 

tolerances set forth in TTB guidance 

documents. TTB determines compliance 

with the tolerances as described in 

Procedure 2020–1. 

VI. Other Developments Since Issuance 

of the 2007 NPRM 

A. Voluntary Use of Serving Facts 

Statements 

Since the issuance of the Serving 

Facts guidance, the optional use of such 

statements on labels has increased in 

the marketplace. For example, in 2016, 

the Beer Institute announced the 

Brewers’ Voluntary Disclosure 

Initiative, a coordinated effort by the 

beer industry to meet consumer demand 

for increased nutritional transparency. 

In August 2021,7 the Beer Institute 

released the results of an independent 

survey showing that 95 percent of the 

beer volume sold by Anheuser-Busch, 

Molson Coors Beverage Company, 

Constellation Brands Beer Division, 

HEINEKEN USA, and FIFCO USA now 

voluntarily provides nutritional 

information in the form of a Serving 

Facts statement. A press release by the 

Beer Institute also stated that according 

to July 2021 polling conducted by 

Quadrant Strategies, 75 percent of 

Americans aged 21 and older said they 

believe alcohol beverages should have 

nutrition labels.8

B. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 

2020–2025 

Since 1990, the Secretaries of 

Agriculture and Health and Human 

Services have been required by law to 

publish the Dietary Guidelines for 

Americans every five years.9 The most 

recent version is the Dietary Guidelines 

for Americans, 2020–2025, 9th Edition, 

published December 2020.10 There have 

been some changes to the 

recommendations in the guidelines 

since CSPI submitted its petition in 

2003, but the guidelines still provide 

general information relating to alcohol 

beverage consumption. 

The Dietary Guidelines ‘‘do[ ] not 

recommend that individuals who do not 

drink alcohol start drinking for any 

reason’’ and note that there are some 

people who should not drink at all, such 

as those who are pregnant or under the 

legal age for drinking.11 For individuals 

who do drink, the guidelines state that 

‘‘drinking less is better for health than 

drinking more.’’ 12 The guidelines point 

to evidence that indicates higher 

average alcohol consumption is 

associated with an increased risk of 

death from all causes compared with 

lower alcohol consumption and state 

that ‘‘[a]lcohol misuse or consuming 

alcohol in excess of recommendations 

increases risk for several other 

conditions such as liver disease, 

cardiovascular disease, injuries, and 

alcohol use disorders.’’ 13

For purposes of evaluating amounts of 

alcohol that may be consumed, the 

Dietary Guidelines define an ‘‘alcoholic 

drink equivalent’’ as containing 14 

grams (0.6 fl oz) of pure alcohol and 

consider the following as one alcoholic 

drink equivalent: 12 fluid ounces of beer 

(at 5 percent alcohol), 5 fluid ounces of 

wine (at 12 percent alcohol), or 1.5 fluid 

ounces of distilled spirits (at 40 percent 

alcohol). 

The Dietary Guidelines stated that 

adults of legal drinking age could 

choose not to drink or to drink in 

moderation by limiting consumption to 

two drinks or less per day for men and 

one drink or less in a day for women. 

These amounts were not intended to be 

an average over several days, but rather 

the amount consumed on any single 

day. The Dietary Guidelines also 

advised that binge drinking, defined as 

five or more drinks for the typical adult 

male or four or more drinks for the 

typical adult female consumed in about 

two hours, should be avoided. 

The guidelines also note that, 

according to emerging evidence, even 

drinking within the limits 

recommended above may increase 

overall risk of death from various 

causes, including several types of cancer 

and cardiovascular disease. The 

guidelines state that alcohol has been 

found to increase the risk for cancer, 

and for some types of cancer, even low 

levels of alcohol consumption (less than 

1 drink in a day) can increase the risk. 

With regard to the calories that come 

from alcohol consumption, the Dietary 

Guidelines state that alcohol beverages 

supply calories but few nutrients, and 

calories from alcohol beverages should 

be counted for the purpose of keeping 

total calorie intake at an appropriate 

level. The guidelines note that alcohol 

beverages may contain calories from 

both alcohol and other ingredients, such 

as soda, juice, and added sugars, and it 

is important to consider ingredients and 

portion size. 

The guidelines also state that 

approximately 60 percent of adults 

report consuming alcohol beverages in 

the past month, and on days when men 

and women consume alcohol, their 

consumption typically exceeds the 

guidance for daily alcohol consumption. 

The guidelines state that, among adults 

who drink, alcohol contributes on 

average approximately 9 percent of 

calories consumed. The guidelines 

stipulate that 85 percent of an 

individual’s total calories per day are 


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14Available at https://www.regulations.gov/ 

comment/TTB-2018-0007-0074. 

needed to meet food group 

recommendations healthfully with 

nutrient rich foods, and that the 

remaining calories are available for 

other uses (including added sugars, 

saturated fat, and alcohol). As such, 

among adults who drink, calories from 

alcohol account for most of the calories 

that remain after consuming 

recommended amounts of nutrientdense foods in each recommended food 

group. Accordingly, the Dietary 

Guidelines recommend that ‘‘[a]dults 

who choose to drink and are not among 

the individuals listed above who should 

not drink, are encouraged to limit daily 

intakes to align with the Dietary 

Guidelines—and to consider calories 

from alcoholic beverages so as not to 

exceed daily calorie limits.’’ 

C. 2019 Comments in Response to 

Notice No. 176 

On November 26, 2018, TTB 

published in the Federal Register 

Notice No. 176 (83 FR 60562), 

‘‘Modernization of the Labeling and 

Advertising Regulations for Wine, 

Distilled Spirits, and Malt Beverages.’’ 

TTB explained that the proposed rule 

would not address Serving Facts 

statements, which would be addressed 

in separate rulemaking proceedings. 

Although one trade association 

supported TTB’s decision to wait to 

address other complicated regulatory 

issues such as Serving Facts until the 

labeling modernization rule was 

finalized, TTB also received some 

comments critical of that decision. 

These commenters suggested that that 

the labeling modernization rulemaking 

focused on issues that were not of 

concern to consumers, while not 

addressing issues in which consumers 

were interested, such as Serving Facts. 

CSPI, the Consumer Federation of 

America, and the National Consumers 

League commented on Notice No. 176 in 

a letter dated February 22, 2019, which 

was directed to the Secretary of the 

Treasury (the 2019 CSPI comment).14

This comment stated that while the 

consumer organizations supported the 

modernization of the labeling 

regulations, Notice No. 176 ‘‘falls 

dramatically short of what is needed to 

truly ‘modernize’ alcohol labeling by 

failing to require uniform disclosure of 

key information—alcohol content, 

serving size, calories, ingredients, and 

allergen information—that consumers 

need to make informed choices.’’ The 

comment stated that the public had 

expressed ‘‘an overwhelming interest in 

improved information on the labeling of 

alcoholic beverages,’’ and that TTB 

should fulfill its statutory obligation 

under the FAA Act to ensure that labels 

and advertisements provide the 

consumer with ‘‘adequate information 

as to the identity and quality of the 

products.’’ 

The 2019 CSPI comment referenced 

the 2003 petition (discussed in Section 

III.A above) and suggested that the need 

for this information was even greater 

today. The comment noted that this 

‘‘information is now required on the 

vast majority of packaged foods and 

beverages’’ and that, as of May 2018, 

‘‘calorie and key nutrition information 

also must be provided at chain 

restaurants, including for alcohol when 

it appears on the menu.’’ The comment 

stated that the ‘‘need to protect the 

public health from negative effects of 

consuming alcoholic beverages has 

never been more pressing’’ and noted 

that 70 percent of American adults are 

now overweight or obese, and alcohol is 

a ‘‘leading source of calories in the 

American diet.’’ [Citations omitted.] 

The 2019 CSPI comment stated that 

the optional nutrient content labeling 

allowed by TTB Ruling 2013–2 is 

‘‘inadequate’’ because it ‘‘fails to 

provide for uniform disclosures that 

will allow consumers to make informed 

choices between products.’’ The 

comment urged the Secretary to instruct 

TTB to ‘‘issue a new proposal providing 

a mandatory, standardized declaration 

covering alcohol content by percentage 

and amount, serving size, calories, 

ingredients, allergen information, and 

other information relevant to 

consumers.’’ The comment suggested 

that the rule could be based on the prior 

regulatory dockets and would ‘‘provide 

much-needed closure to those 

considerable efforts.’’ The comment 

noted that ‘‘[c]onsumers of alcoholic 

beverages deserve the clear, consistent 

labeling that has long been available on 

other beverages.’’ 

In response to Notice No. 176, TTB 

also received some comments in favor of 

expanding mandatory alcohol content 

requirements. For example, the Wine 

Institute commented in favor of 

requiring a numerical alcohol content 

statement for wines containing up to 14 

percent alcohol by volume in lieu of 

allowing such wines to be simply 

labeled as ‘‘table wine.’’ The Brewers 

Association commented in favor of 

requiring alcohol content statements on 

malt beverage labels, as long as the 

tolerance for such statements was 

increased to one percentage point, and 

a three-year implementation period is 

allowed. 

D. Letter From Public Health Advocates 

(2021 CSPI Letter) 

On February 24, 2021, a letter was 

submitted on behalf of CSPI, Alcohol 

Justice, the American Institute for 

Cancer Research, Breast Cancer 

Prevention Partners, the Consumer 

Federation of America, the National 

Consumers League, and the U.S. 

Alcohol Policy Alliance, urging the 

Secretary to adopt regulations to 

mandate alcohol content statements and 

a standardized Serving Facts label on all 

wine, distilled spirits, and malt 

beverage products regulated under the 

FAA Act. The letter stated that such 

labeling requirements fell under the 

Secretary’s authority to ensure that 

labels provide consumers with adequate 

information on the identity, quality, and 

alcohol content of alcohol beverages. 

The 2021 CSPI letter noted that in 

response to the 2003 petition on these 

issues, TTB had requested public 

comments, issued proposed regulations, 

and published a ruling on voluntary 

nutrition and calorie labeling. However, 

the 2021 CSPI letter stated that ‘‘the 

draft specifications were never 

finalized, and most alcoholic beverages 

still are not labeled with critical 

information.’’ Accordingly, the 2021 

CSPI letter urged Treasury and TTB to 

issue a final rule mandating a 

standardized label that would include: 

• Information about the ‘‘Drink Size’’ 

and alcohol by volume, as well as the 

number of ‘‘drinks’’ per container, 

• The calories and fluid ounces of 

alcohol per drink, 

• An ingredient declaration listing 

each ingredient by its common or usual 

name and identifying any major food 

allergens present in the product, and 

• The Dietary Guidelines for 

Americans’ advice on moderate 

drinking (to be updated based on any 

changes in the guidelines over time). 

The letter also stated that TTB should 

include in its rule specific requirements 

for font, minimum size, and color 

contrast to ensure the readability of the 

label. The letter included the following 

example of a potential format for the 

standardized Serving Facts label: 


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15See page 3 of the Competition Report, available 

at https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/ 

Competition-Report.pdf. 

16 Id. at page 61. 

E. Treasury Report on Competition in 

the Markets for Beer, Wine, and Spirits 

On July 9, 2021, President Biden 

issued an Executive Order entitled 

‘‘Promoting Competition in the 

American Economy.’’ See E.O. 14036 

(86 FR 36987, July 14, 2021). Section 

5(j) directed the Secretary, in 

consultation with the Attorney General 

and the Chair of the Federal Trade 

Commission (FTC), to submit a report 

‘‘assessing the current market structure 

and conditions of competition [for beer, 

wine, and spirits], including an 

assessment of any threats to competition 

and barriers to new entrants. . . .’’ 86 

FR at 36994. Among other things, the 

order provided that the report should 

address any ‘‘unnecessary trade practice 

regulations of matters such as bottle 

sizes, permitting, or labeling’’ that may 

unnecessarily inhibit competition by 

increasing costs without serving any 

public health, informational, or tax 

purpose. Id. 

On July 28, 2021, the Department of 

the Treasury issued a Request for 

Information (RFI) soliciting input from 

the public, consumer groups, public 

interest groups, industry members, and 

other interested parties regarding the 

current market structure and conditions 

of competition in the American markets 

for beer, wine, and spirits, including an 

assessment of any threats to competition 

and barriers to new entrants. See Notice 

No. 204 (86 FR 40678, July 28, 2021). 

Treasury received 827 public 

comments in response to this RFI. While 

the RFI did not specifically solicit 

comments on calorie or nutritional 

labeling, Treasury received over 100 

comments stating that consumers are 

‘‘ill-served’’ by the lack of ingredient, 

calorie, or nutritional labeling on 

alcohol beverages, and asking that the 

regulations be amended to require this 

information on alcohol beverage labels. 

As noted above, on February 9, 2022, 

Treasury, in consultation with the 

Department of Justice and the FTC, 

released a report on competition in the 

markets for alcohol beverages. One of 

the Competition Report’s findings was 

that ‘‘[r]egulatory proposals that could 

serve public health and foster 

competition by providing information to 

consumers, such as mandatory allergen, 

nutrition, and ingredient labeling 

proposals, have not been 

implemented.’’ 15 The Competition 

Report made some labeling 

recommendations, including a 

recommendation that TTB ‘‘should 

revive or initiate rulemaking proposing 

ingredient labeling and mandatory 

information on alcohol content, 

nutritional content, and appropriate 

serving sizes.’’ 16

F. 2024 Virtual Public Listening 

Sessions 

In light of the Competition Report, 

TTB announced in the Spring 2022 

Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory 

and Deregulatory Actions that it would 

publish an NPRM on possible changes 

to its regulations related to statements of 

alcohol and nutritional content. 

Executive Order 14094, ‘‘Modernizing 

Regulatory Review,’’ was subsequently 

published on April 6, 2023, directing 

agencies, to the extent practicable and 

consistent with applicable laws, to 

provide opportunities for public 

participation designed to promote 

equitable and meaningful participation 

by a range of interested or affected 

parties, to inform regulatory actions. 

On January 31, 2024, TTB issued 

Notice No. 232, which announced two 

virtual listening sessions and the 

opening of a public docket to receive 

written comment on the labeling of 

alcohol beverages with per-serving 

alcohol and nutritional information, 

major food allergens, and/or ingredients. 

Consistent with Executive Order 14094, 

TTB sought input from a wide range of 

stakeholders, including those who may 

not usually comment on its proposals, 

to inform rulemaking, particularly given 

the broad implications of these issues. 

TTB posed the following questions in 

Notice No. 232: 

1. Do consumers believe that they are 

adequately informed by the information 

currently provided on alcohol beverage 

labels? 

2. 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? 

3. What types of per-serving 

nutritional information, such as 

calories, carbohydrates, protein, and fat, 

should be included? 

4. 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? 

5. How would any new mandatory 

labeling requirements particularly affect 


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17TTB did not receive any comments on Notice 

232 on what TTB should title the information 

statement. While a few commenters referred to the 

information statement as ‘‘Serving Facts’’ in their 

comments, none provided commentary supporting 

or opposing any particular title. 

small businesses and new businesses 

entering the marketplace? 

The listening sessions, held on 

February 28 and 29, 2024, engaged 

consumers, public health stakeholders, 

and industry members representing 

businesses of different sizes. 

Approximately 700 registrants attended 

the two virtual sessions, including 47 

different speakers. In addition to the 

oral comments received during the 

listening sessions, TTB received 5,159 

written comments in response to Notice 

No. 232. 

TTB has reviewed the comments that 

were submitted both orally and in 

writing on alcohol and nutritional 

content information disclosures and has 

used those comments to inform this 

proposed rule. 

VII. New Proposed Rule 

A. Reasons for Issuing a New Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking 

In this proposed rule, TTB is 

initiating new rulemaking on mandatory 

alcohol content and nutrient 

information in alcohol beverage 

labeling. More than 17 years have 

elapsed since the publication of Notice 

No. 73 in the Federal Register, and TTB 

believes that the comments received in 

response to that proposal may no longer 

fully and accurately reflect the opinions 

of consumers, public health advocates, 

industry members, trade associations, 

and other interested parties. TTB also 

received thousands of comments in 

response to Notice No. 232 that reflect 

new perspectives and provide updated 

information on the costs and benefits of 

mandatory alcohol content and nutrient 

information disclosure. 

TTB thus believes it is appropriate to 

publish a new proposed rule on these 

issues, which takes into account interim 

changes in labeling policy, the 

comments on Notice No. 232, and the 

experience TTB and the regulated 

alcohol-beverage community have 

gained with optional statements of 

average analysis, Serving Facts 

statements, and Alcohol Facts 

statements, and which solicits current 

comments on the proposed regulatory 

changes. As was shown through 

comments on Notice No. 232, some 

industry members have new 

perspectives that reflect their own 

experience with voluntary labeling 

disclosures and the consumer reaction 

to labels that include per-serving 

nutrient or alcohol content information. 

TTB received many comments about 

potential costs associated with the 

mandatory proposals set forth in Notice 

No. 73, particularly the nutrient labeling 

requirements. Many of those comments 

were echoed in comments on Notice No. 

232, with a large number of commenters 

discussing the costs associated with 

testing product samples for nutritional 

information. In light of those comments, 

TTB conducted a more thorough cost 

analysis in this proposed rule (see 

Section IX, Cost Analysis, below) that 

addresses concerns that were raised in 

the comments on Notices No. 73 and 

232. As described further below, TTB is 

seeking comment on this analysis as it 

considers adopting the mandatory 

labeling requirements proposed in this 

document as well as the length of the 

implementation period. 

Furthermore, in response to Notice 

No. 73, TTB received several comments 

suggesting that TTB require alcohol 

content (as both a percentage of alcohol 

by volume and as fluid ounces of 

alcohol per serving) to appear in the 

mandatory labeling statement, and to 

use the title ‘‘Alcohol Facts’’ instead of 

the title ‘‘Serving Facts.’’ TTB has 

incorporated both of those suggestions 

into this proposed rule and is soliciting 

comment on whether this information 

would assist in ensuring that labels 

provide adequate information to 

consumers about the identity, quality, 

and alcohol content of the product. 

On a related issue, as explained in 

more detail below in Section VII.B.4, 

TTB is proposing to require alcohol 

content labeling statements for all malt 

beverages under its FAA Act authority, 

and for all beers (whether regulated 

under the FAA Act or not) under its IRC 

authority. TTB is also proposing to rely 

on its authority under the IRC to 

propose mandatory numerical alcohol 

content statements for ‘‘table wines’’ 

(wines containing at least 7 percent and 

not more than 14 percent alcohol by 

volume), instead of allowing wines the 

option of being labeled as ‘‘table wine’’ 

without a numerical alcohol content 

statement on the label. TTB believes 

that mandatory alcohol content 

statements on labels for all beer and 

wines subject to tax under the IRC will 

assist in ensuring appropriate Federal 

excise tax payment and collection. TTB 

is seeking additional comments on these 

proposals in this notice of proposed 

rulemaking. 

B. Summary and Solicitation of 

Comments on Proposal 

TTB proposes to amend its 

regulations to require an Alcohol Facts 

statement on all alcohol beverage labels 

TTB regulates under the FAA Act. As 

proposed, the mandatory Alcohol Facts 

statement would include information 

about the alcohol content expressed 

both as a percentage of alcohol by 

volume and in fluid ounces of pure 

ethyl alcohol per serving, the number of 

calories, and the number, in grams, of 

carbohydrates, fat, and protein, per 

serving. The serving sizes are based on 

the amount of the beverage customarily 

consumed as a single serving, as 

explained in Section VII.B.9 below. The 

proposed Alcohol Facts statement may 

be presented in either a panel or a linear 

format. 

1. Title of the Alcohol Beverage 

Information Statement 

TTB is proposing ‘‘Alcohol Facts’’ as 

the title of the informational statement, 

instead of ‘‘Serving Facts,’’ which was 

proposed in 2007. While Notice No. 73 

did not specifically solicit comments on 

alternative titles, TTB received 

comments that supported ‘‘Alcohol 

Facts’’ or titles other than ‘‘Serving 

Facts’’ for the information panel. Some 

commenters suggested that ‘‘Serving 

Facts’’ could confuse consumers 

because it is too similar to the 

‘‘Nutrition Facts’’ title of panels for food 

products under FDA’s labeling 

jurisdiction. Many commenters 

suggested alternative titles that they 

believed would help differentiate 

alcohol beverage products from other 

FDA-regulated products. Several 

commenters, including health 

professionals and organizations, 

consumers, and consumer advocacy 

groups, supported the title ‘‘Alcohol 

Facts,’’ as originally proposed by the 

petitioners in 2003.17

TTB finds merit in the argument that 

the title ‘‘Alcohol Facts’’ provides a 

better description of the information 

presented in the statement. This is 

especially true since TTB is now 

proposing to require alcohol content 

information as part of the information 

statement. 

Under its current policy, TTB 

guidance allows for optional ‘‘Alcohol 

Facts’’ statements that contain only 

alcohol content information, while 

‘‘Serving Facts’’ statements contain 

nutrient information and may contain 

alcohol content information as an 

option. In TTB’s experience, relatively 

few industry members have chosen to 

label their products with an ‘‘Alcohol 

Facts’’ statement; thus, TTB does not 

believe the proposed change will cause 

consumer confusion. 

Nonetheless, TTB is considering both 

‘‘Serving Facts’’ and ‘‘Alcohol Facts’’ as 

options for the final rule, and thus seeks 

comments on both titles, as well as any 


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18According to CPSI’s comment, CPSI 

commissioned Big Village to conduct the survey. 

19TTB received many comments on the potential 

costs of mandatory calorie and nutrient information 

disclosure and suggestions for mitigating those 

costs. TTB addresses those comments, including 

comments requesting the option to electronically 

disclose Alcohol Facts information, in sections 

VII.A.3 and A.8 and in the cost analysis in Section 

IX. TTB is also soliciting further comments on the 

costs of this proposed rule, how those costs impact 

businesses, and how TTB might mitigate those 

impacts, particularly for small businesses. 

alternative titles that may be more 

informative. TTB specifically seeks 

comments on the following issues: 

1. Which title, ‘‘Serving Facts’’ or 

‘‘Alcohol Facts,’’ would be more 

informative to consumers? Does the title 

‘‘Alcohol Facts’’ better describe the 

information provided in the proposed 

statement, which includes per-serving 

alcohol content information? 

2. Would the use of the title ‘‘Alcohol 

Facts’’ affect compliance costs or 

regulatory burdens by requiring a title 

change for products already voluntarily 

labeled with a ‘‘Serving Facts’’ 

statement? 

3. Are consumers accustomed to 

finding nutrient content information in 

a Serving Facts statement? Would 

changing the title to ‘‘Alcohol Facts’’ 

cause confusion? 

4. Alternatively, does the title 

‘‘Alcohol Facts’’ make it easier for 

consumers to readily distinguish 

alcohol beverages from other food 

items? 

2. Mandatory Calorie and Nutrient 

Information 

In Notice No. 232, TTB asked 

consumers if nutritional information 

(such as calories, carbohydrates, 

protein, and fat) per serving is important 

in deciding whether to purchase or 

consume a particular alcohol beverage, 

and what types of per-serving 

nutritional information should be 

included. TTB received well over 100 

individual comments expressing a 

variety of viewpoints on nutritional 

labeling, and thousands of substantially 

identical comments from consumers 

expressing support for mandatory 

nutritional labeling, as well as other 

disclosures for alcohol content, 

allergens, and ingredients. 

Commenters in favor of mandating 

nutritional labeling stated that this 

information is necessary for consumers 

to make informed purchasing and 

consumption decisions. Several 

commenters, including CSPI, cited to a 

March 2024 survey by Big Village, in 

which 78 percent of over 1,000 surveyed 

consumers stated that nutritional 

content was at least somewhat 

important in helping decide whether to 

purchase a particular alcoholic 

beverage.18 Most commenters in favor of 

mandatory nutritional disclosures also 

discussed the health-related reasons 

why nutrient labeling is important to 

consumers. These reasons included the 

ability to monitor caloric intake and 

manage or prevent diet-related 

conditions. 

The comments opposed to mandatory 

nutritional labeling largely came from 

industry members who identified 

themselves as small businesses. These 

commenters cited their perception of a 

lack of interest in nutritional 

information by their customers and their 

concern that the cost of nutritional 

labeling, due to redesigning existing 

labels and testing product samples, 

would place small businesses at a 

competitive disadvantage. 

Several commenters stated that, while 

consumers may find nutritional 

information on the label to be useful, 

TTB should not mandate that the 

information appear on the label, since 

the government already provides 

nutritional information about alcohol 

beverages through USDA’s FoodData 

Central website. As an example, Bozzo 

Family Vineyards stated that the 

nutritional information provided by 

USDA is ‘‘representative of 

commercially available [alcohol 

beverages] and should permit 

consumers, who are interested in such 

information for purchase or 

consumption decisions, to make an 

informed choice of whether to buy or 

consume.’’ 

Some commenters stated that 

producers should only be required to 

list calories, particularly for distilled 

spirits. The Distilled Spirits Council of 

the United States (DISCUS) commented 

that most distilled spirits do not contain 

any carbohydrates, fat, or proteins, and 

TTB should allow producers to list only 

calories, as calories are the only 

nutritional information pertinent to 

most distilled spirits consumers. The 

American Craft Spirits Association 

commented that nutrition labeling is 

inappropriate for distilled spirits 

products, which are non-nutritive, and 

that requiring nutritional labeling for 

distilled spirits products could mislead 

or confuse consumers by implying that 

distilled spirits have nutritive value. 

The Mexican Commission for the Wine 

and Liquor Industry expressed that 

nutritional information is not 

appropriate on alcohol beverage labels 

for the same reason. 

After careful consideration of the 

diverging viewpoints provided by the 

commenters to Notice No. 232, TTB is 

proposing to mandate nutritional 

information on alcohol beverage labels. 

Comments revealed significant 

consumer interest in nutritional 

information on labels. While certain 

alcohol beverages are unlikely to 

contain certain nutrients, such as fat or 

protein, even the absence of these 

components provides information and 

may be of interest to consumers. 

Additionally, the USDA database cited 

above contains information on only a 

limited number of specific products, 

and other listings only represent general 

information about certain types of 

alcohol beverages. For these reasons, 

TTB is proposing nutritional 

requirements as described below and 

welcomes both general comments and 

feedback on each specific proposal.19 In 

line with the nutritional elements 

allowed in current TTB guidance on 

voluntary label disclosures, TTB is 

proposing to require per-serving calorie, 

carbohydrate, fat, and protein content to 

be included on product labels. 

TTB is also proposing to allow sugar 

content statements as an optional 

element in the Alcohol Facts statement. 

Under current policy, sugar content 

statements may appear on a label 

provided certain conditions are met, but 

they are not permitted in statements of 

average analysis or Serving Facts 

statements. TTB has received numerous 

requests from industry members to 

allow sugar content statements to 

appear in the optional Serving Facts 

statements for alcohol beverages in a 

manner that is consistent with the FDA 

Nutrition Facts Label. In addition, TTB 

received comments on Notice No. 232 

from consumers and public health 

organizations stating that sugar content 

should appear on alcohol labels, 

including a joint comment from 27 

public health groups and public health 

officials stating that ‘‘[s]ugar-sweetened 

beverages contribute to weight gain, 

type 2 diabetes, and heart disease,[*] 

and sugary ready-to-drink cocktails are 

increasing in popularity.[*] ’’ [*Internal 

footnotes omitted.] Thus, based on 

industry interest and the support 

expressed in comments on Notice No. 

232, TTB proposes to allow sugar 

content statements in the Alcohol Facts 

statement, which is the same place 

consumers are viewing other nutrient 

information. 

TTB is also seeking comments on 

whether other elements of the Alcohol 

Facts statement should be optional 

rather than mandatory, and whether 

additional elements should be added to 

the statement on a mandatory or 

optional basis. TTB specifically seeks 

comments on whether TTB should 


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20Available at https://www.fda.gov/food/foodlabeling-nutrition/changes-nutrition-facts-label. 

harmonize its nutrient labeling 

requirements with regulations issued by 

FDA, as updated in 2016. The following 

graphic shows the current format for the 

FDA Nutrition Facts label.20

TTB is not currently proposing to 

allow other micronutrients, such as 

sodium, that appear on the FDA 

Nutrition Facts label as mandatory or 

optional elements of the Alcohol Facts 

statement. Several individual 

commenters to Notice No. 232, and 

thousands of substantially identical 

comments from submitters identifying 

themselves as consumers of alcohol 

beverages, stated that sodium should be 

a mandatory element of the Alcohol 

Facts statement. A few commenters 

stated that alcohol beverages should be 

labeled with all micronutrients required 

on food labels by the FDA. However, 

other commenters stated most alcohol 

beverages do not contain sufficient 

quantities of micronutrients to merit 

disclosure on the label, and some, 

including the Brewers Association, 

commented that requiring the disclosure 

of nutrients in line with FDA could 

confuse consumers into viewing alcohol 

beverages like any other food 

component when alcohol beverages are 

not, and should not, be positioned as 

dietary staples. 

At this time, TTB does not believe 

most alcohol beverages contain 

sufficient quantities of sodium or other 

micronutrients to merit inclusion in the 

Alcohol Facts statement. However, TTB 

seeks further comments, and 

specifically comments with market data, 

on whether any micronutrients, such as 

sodium, are present in alcohol beverages 

in sufficient quantities that their 

disclosure would affect purchasing or 

consumption decisions, and if yes, 

whether TTB should require, or permit 

optional, inclusion of those nutrients on 

alcohol beverage labels. 

TTB also seeks comments on whether 

certain nutrients should be listed only if 

present at specific levels. TTB is 

proposing to require the listing of 

calorie, carbohydrate, fat, and protein 

content on alcohol beverages, even if the 

product does not contain, or contains 

only a de minimis amount of, these 

components. However, TTB specifically 

seeks comments on whether fat and 

protein, which are not typically found 

in certain alcohol beverages, should be 

listed only if present at specific levels. 

If so, what levels should trigger these 

requirements? TTB also seek comments 

on whether any other nutrients, such as 

sodium, caffeine, or sugar, should be 

required to be listed if present at a 

specific level, even if they do not 

otherwise have to be disclosed. 

In addition to the above, TTB is 

seeking comment on the following 

issues related to mandatory calorie and 

nutrient statements: 

1. Should TTB’s proposed nutrient 

content labeling statement be more 

consistent with the Nutrition Facts 

Label found on foods that are under 

FDA’s labeling jurisdiction? 

Alternatively, do the differences 

between alcohol beverages and other 

foods make it unnecessary, or even 

misleading, to adopt the type of nutrient 

labeling required on food labels that are 

under FDA’s labeling jurisdiction? For 

example, would information on the 

percentage of the daily value of the 

listed nutrients provided by alcohol 

beverages be useful information for 

consumers? Alternatively, could such 

statements mislead consumers by 

implying that they may rely on alcohol 

beverage consumption to satisfy part of 

their daily nutrient requirements? 

2. For greater consistency with the 

FDA Nutrition Facts Label, should 

Alcohol Facts statements be allowed or 

required to include other elements (such 

as sodium and cholesterol) or a further 

breakdown of fat (to include saturated 

fat and trans-fat)? 

3. Would the inclusion of elements 

not ordinarily expected to be found in 

alcohol beverages (such as trans-fat and 

dietary fiber) be useful or potentially 

misleading? 

4. Should TTB allow numerical 

statements of the vitamin and mineral 

content of alcohol beverages, assuming 

the product contains vitamins or 

minerals, or could such a statement 

create an erroneous impression that 

consumption of the alcohol beverage 

has nutritional value or other healthrelated benefits? 

5. How many industry members 

already provide nutrient content 

information on labels, in advertisements 

(such as websites), or upon request (for 

example, to consumers or restaurants)? 

6. Do consumers want to see Alcohol 

Facts labeling on alcohol beverage 

products? How might consumers benefit 

from such a label? Do consumers have 

adequate information about the identity 

and quality of alcohol beverages if 

alcohol beverage containers do not 


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include Alcohol Facts labeling? How do 

those benefits compare to the costs and 

regulatory burdens associated with such 

revisions? 

7. How, if at all, would the new 

mandatory labeling requirements affect 

competition in the alcohol beverage 

market? 

8. How would the new mandatory 

labeling requirements affect small 

businesses and, in particular, new 

businesses entering into the alcohol 

beverage marketplace? 

9. How, if at all, would the new 

mandatory labeling requirements affect 

international trade of alcohol beverages? 

Is there any information that should, or 

should not, be included to align the 

proposed labeling requirements with 

those of other countries? 

3. Calculating Panel Elements and 

Tolerance Levels 

As previously noted in this document, 

TTB expanded the tolerance levels for 

calories in 2020, with the issuance of 

TTB Ruling 2020–1 and TTB Procedure 

2020–1. TTB Procedure 2020–1 states 

that the calorie, carbohydrate, or fat 

content, as determined by TTB analysis, 

must be within a reasonable range 

below the labeled or advertised amount 

(within good manufacturing practice 

limitations), and the protein content 

must be within a reasonable range above 

the labeled amount (within good 

manufacturing practice limitations). 

TTB Ruling 2020–1 also permits 

industry members to rely on databases 

or ‘‘typical value’’ charts, rather than 

laboratory analysis, to determine 

nutrient content values for the labeling 

and advertising of alcohol beverages 

provided the values are within the 

‘‘reasonable range’’ prescribed in 

Procedure 2020–1. 

TTB is proposing to modify the 

tolerances set out in the 2020 guidance 

by eliminating references to ‘‘reasonable 

ranges’’ based on ‘‘good manufacturing 

practice limitations.’’ Instead, TTB is 

proposing an objective standard, which 

allows a tolerance of 20 percent either 

above or below the labeled amount for 

calories, carbohydrates, protein, and fat. 

TTB believes that this change would 

promote compliance by eliminating 

subjective standards. Importantly, the 

proposed revisions would facilitate the 

use of ‘‘typical values’’ charts and other 

methodologies to calculate the level of 

calories, carbohydrates, fat, and protein 

in alcohol beverage products. Because of 

variations between batches of the same 

alcohol beverage product, one purpose 

of the tolerances is to facilitate reliance 

on databases, such as the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture’s FoodData 

Central, and other methodologies to 

calculate calorie and nutrient levels, 

without having to change the label for 

minor variations in those values. 

In response to Notice No. 232, small 

businesses stated that broad tolerances 

that allow for the use of tables and other 

means to calculate calories and nutrient 

levels are important to reducing costs 

and maintaining their businesses’ 

competitiveness in the market. These 

commenters were particularly 

concerned about any regulatory change 

that would require them to either buy 

expensive equipment to conduct inhouse nutritional analysis testing or, 

more likely, send their products to 

third-party laboratories for analysis 

because they would not be able to afford 

the equipment to conduct in-house 

testing. Commenters stated that small 

producers often create small batches of 

products, and, as such, costs for testing 

cannot be easily absorbed over the sale 

of a large number of units. Other 

commenters expressed concern about 

the time third-party testing could add 

between the production of a product 

and its release to the market. 

TTB seeks comments on whether the 

proposed tolerances are broad enough to 

facilitate reliance on databases for 

standard products, among other 

methods for calculating calorie and 

nutrient content, but still specific 

enough to provide accurate information 

to consumers. Specifically, TTB seeks 

comments on whether it should instead 

propose the same tolerances set forth in 

TTB Procedure 2020–1 or whether 

another approach should be considered. 

4. Mandatory Listing of Alcohol by 

Volume on All Alcohol Beverage 

Products 

Consistent with Notice No. 73, TTB is 

proposing to require an alcohol content 

statement, expressed as a percentage of 

alcohol by volume, on the labels of all 

alcohol beverage products. This would 

be a new requirement for table wines 

(wines containing at least 7 percent and 

no more than 14 percent alcohol by 

volume) and most malt beverages and 

beers. TTB believes that uniform 

labeling of alcohol content on all 

alcohol beverage products will assist 

taxpayers in complying with their 

obligations under the IRC and will assist 

TTB in identifying alcohol beverage 

products that pose compliance risks. 

TTB has authority under the IRC to 

require alcohol content statements on 

all wines and beer, pursuant to TTB’s 

authority to classify, collect taxes on, 

and ensure the appropriate labeling of, 

such products. As noted in the preamble 

to Notice No. 73, TTB concluded that 

the alcohol content of a beverage is one 

of the most important pieces of 

information about that product. 

Both the FAA Act and the IRC 

provide the Secretary of the Treasury 

with broad authority to regulate the 

labeling of alcohol beverages. The FAA 

Act and IRC, and their implementing 

regulations regarding the labeling of 

alcohol content, differ by commodity. 

For example, all distilled spirits must be 

labeled with alcohol content statements 

under the FAA Act, as well as under the 

implementing FAA Act and IRC 

regulations. See 27 U.S.C. 205(e) and 27 

CFR 5.63, 5.65, 19.516, and 19.517. 

However, the FAA Act requires alcohol 

content for wines only if they contain 

more than 14 percent alcohol by 

volume. See 27 U.S.C. 205(e). Pursuant 

to TTB regulations, wines with an 

alcohol content of at least 7 percent but 

no more than 14 percent alcohol by 

volume may be labeled with the type 

designation ‘‘table wine’’ or ‘‘light 

wine’’ on the brand label in lieu of a 

percent-by-volume alcohol content 

declaration. Additionally, all wines may 

be labeled with a range of alcohol 

content levels. See 27 CFR 4.36. 

The FAA Act, as enacted in 1935, also 

originally prohibited the placement of 

alcohol content statements on malt 

beverage labels, unless required by State 

law. However, the Supreme Court found 

this provision was unconstitutional in 

Rubin v. Coors Brewing Co., 514 U.S. 

476 (1995). As TTB explained in Notice 

No. 73, this decision leaves TTB with 

authority to either allow or require 

alcohol content statements on malt 

beverage labels. 

With the exception of certain flavored 

malt beverages that contain alcohol 

derived from added nonbeverage flavors 

or other added nonbeverage ingredients 

(other than hops extract) containing 

alcohol (see 27 CFR 7.63(a)(3)), malt 

beverages are not currently required to 

bear an alcohol content statement. 

However, many consumers have become 

used to seeing optional alcohol content 

statements on many malt beverage 

labels, which are permitted under TTB 

regulations at 27 CFR 7.65 and may be 

required under State law. 

a. Proposal To Require Alcohol Content 

Statements for Malt Beverages 

In Notice No. 176, TTB did not 

propose mandatory alcohol content 

statements for malt beverages but did 

propose to increase the alcohol content 

tolerance for malt beverages from 0.3 

percent to 1 percent above or below the 

labeled alcohol content. TTB made this 

proposal with the understanding that 

some brewers, especially small brewers, 

avoid putting optional alcohol content 

statements on malt beverage labels 


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21The Beer Institute and the Brewers Association 

made substantially similar comments in response to 

Notice No. 232. 

22While this proposed rule would generally allow 

for a tolerance of one percentage point above or 

below the labeled alcohol content for malt 

beverages, for malt beverages containing less than 

0.5 percent alcohol by volume, the actual alcohol 

content may be less than, but may not exceed, the 

labeled alcohol content. 

23See 27 CFR 24.257(a)(3). The regulation 

incorporates the rules under part 4, which results 

in a somewhat inconsistent effect. The IRC 

regulations require wines under 7 percent alcohol 

by volume (which are not ‘‘wines’’ under the FAA 

Act and thus fall under FDA’s labeling jurisdiction) 

to bear a percent-by-volume alcohol content 

statement; however, they do not require the same 

statement on wines with an alcohol content of 7 to 

14 percent alcohol by volume. 

because of the difficulty in maintaining 

precise alcohol content levels from 

batch to batch. 

In response to Notice No. 176, the 

Beer Institute opposed the proposed 

increase of the alcohol content tolerance 

for malt beverages, stating that the 

increase could confuse, mislead, and 

possibly endanger consumers due to 

higher than labeled alcohol content. On 

the other hand, the Brewers Association 

supported mandatory alcohol content 

statements for malt beverages, if the 

tolerance was increased to one 

percentage point above or below the 

labeled amount, and if a three-year 

compliance period was provided to 

allow for label changes.21 Because the 

issue of mandatory alcohol content 

statements for malt beverages was 

outside of the scope of that proposed 

rule, TTB did not adopt an increase in 

the tolerance for alcohol content 

statements in response to Notice No. 

176; instead, TTB stated that it was 

treating the comment in favor of this 

amendment as a request for further 

rulemaking. TTB is now proposing both 

to require alcohol content statements for 

all malt beverages under the FAA Act 

and to increase the labeling tolerance to 

one percentage point above or below the 

stated amount. TTB is also proposing 

conforming amendments to the IRC 

labeling regulations, in parts 25 and 27, 

to cover domestic and imported beer. 

For beers that are not defined as ‘‘malt 

beverages’’ under the FAA Act, TTB is 

proposing to mandate an alcohol 

content statement on the label of the 

products under TTB’s IRC authority. 

However, these beers would not be 

subject to the proposed Alcohol Facts 

labeling requirements, including the 

requirement for a statement of the 

number of fluid ounces of pure ethyl 

alcohol per serving, because the Alcohol 

Facts labeling requirements are being 

proposed under TTB’s FAA Act 

authority, which does not apply to these 

products. Instead, these products are 

subject to FDA labeling requirements. 

TTB believes that requiring an alcohol 

content statement on these products 

would facilitate revenue protection by, 

among other things, making it readily 

apparent that the products are subject to 

tax under the IRC. TTB seeks comments 

on this issue. 

TTB also seeks comment on the 

proposal to increase the labeling 

tolerance to one percentage point above 

or below the stated amount for all malt 

beverages and beers. In response to 

Notice No. 232, brewers commented 

that the cost of the equipment needed to 

test for alcohol content to a sufficient 

degree of certainty to meet the current 

tolerance standards costs tens of 

thousands of dollars. Small brewers 

reported that this cost was unaffordable, 

would push them out of the market, and 

would discourage new entrants to 

market. Increasing the tolerance to one 

percentage point above or below the 

stated alcohol content would allow 

brewers to calculate the alcohol content 

through a formula based on hydrometer 

readings, which commenters to Notice 

No. 232 stated would drastically lower 

the costs of compliance. TTB seeks 

comment on whether increasing the 

tolerance for alcohol content to one 

percent would lower the cost of 

compliance for a mandatory alcohol 

content disclosure and thereby promote 

competition in the marketplace if such 

disclosure is required. TTB also seeks 

comment on whether consumers would 

receive adequate information about the 

alcohol content of malt beverages if the 

tolerance is increased. 

Non-alcoholic malt beverages that are 

the product of alcoholic fermentation 

are subject to the labeling requirements 

of the FAA Act but are not subject to the 

health warning requirements of the 

Alcoholic Beverage Labeling Act of 1988 

because their alcohol content is less 

than 0.5 percent alcohol by volume.22

See 27 CFR 7.65(e), 16.10, and 16.21. 

The IRC regulations in 27 CFR 25.242 

require marking such products as a 

‘‘cereal beverage,’’ ‘‘malt beverage,’’ or 

‘‘near beer,’’ along with a statement that 

the product is ‘‘Nontaxable under 

section 5051 I.R.C.’’ on bottles, kegs, 

and barrels. 

TTB is proposing to require an 

Alcohol Facts statement for nonalcoholic malt beverages, but TTB does 

not see any reason to require a specific 

statement of the percentage of alcohol 

by volume, as long as the statement 

adequately informs the consumer that 

the product contains less than 0.5 

percent alcohol by volume. TTB is thus 

proposing to allow the alcohol content 

statement for these products to be 

expressed either as a percentage of 

alcohol by volume or with the terms 

‘‘non-alcoholic’’ or ‘‘alcohol free,’’ 

provided the product meets the current 

definitions of those terms in 27 CFR 

7.65(e)–(f). The term ‘‘non-alcoholic’’ 

means the product contains less than 

one half of one percent alcohol by 

volume, while the term ‘‘alcohol free’’ is 

reserved for those products that contain 

no alcohol. Additionally, if the term 

‘‘non-alcoholic’’ is used, the phrase 

‘‘contains less than 0.5 percent (or .5%) 

alcohol by volume’’ must appear 

immediately adjacent to it, although it 

may be abbreviated as provided in 

proposed § 7.212(e)(1). Similarly, for 

non-alcoholic malt beverages, there is 

no need to specify the number of fluid 

ounces of alcohol per serving, given 

that, by definition, a serving size would 

be 12 fl oz, so the fluid ounces of 

alcohol per serving would be less than 

0.06, which is one-tenth of an alcoholic 

drink equivalent as defined by the 

Dietary Guidelines. 

TTB seeks comment on this issue, and 

specifically invites comments on 

whether an Alcohol Facts statement 

should be required for non-alcoholic 

malt beverages. TTB notes that other 

non-alcoholic products are not subject 

to the FAA Act’s labeling requirements. 

For example, a non-alcoholic wine does 

not fall under the definition of a ‘‘wine’’ 

under the FAA Act because the 

minimum alcohol content for wine 

under that definition is 7 percent 

alcohol by volume. See 27 U.S.C. 211. 

Similarly, the definition of the term 

‘‘distilled spirits’’ in 27 CFR 5.1 does 

not include products containing less 

than 0.5 percent alcohol by volume. 

b. Proposal To Require Alcohol Content 

Statements for Wine 

The current wine regulations under 

the IRC require alcohol content to be 

labeled on all containers, either as a 

percentage of alcohol by volume or in 

accordance with 27 CFR part 4. 

Accordingly, wines with less than 7 

percent alcohol by volume must be 

labeled with a numerical statement of 

alcohol content. However, because the 

IRC regulations allow wines as defined 

under the FAA Act to be labeled with 

an alcohol content statement in 

accordance with the regulations in part 

4, they do not require the listing of a 

percentage of alcohol by volume for 

wines with an alcohol content of at least 

7 percent and up to 14 percent, which 

are instead entitled to the exemptions 

under part 4.23 As previously noted, the 

regulations in section 4.36 do not 

require numerical alcohol content 

statements for wines labeled with the 


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Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 11 / Friday, January 17, 2025 / Proposed Rules 6669 

designation ‘‘table wine’’ on the brand 

label. 

As explained in Notice No. 73, TTB 

believes that the listing of alcohol 

content should be consistent for wines 

regardless of whether they contain more 

than 14 percent alcohol by volume. 

Accordingly, in that document, TTB 

proposed amending § 24.257(a)(3) to 

require alcohol content expressed in 

terms of a percentage of alcohol by 

volume on all wine labels. TTB stated 

that this amendment would serve an 

important revenue purpose, as the 

alcohol content of a wine is a key factor 

in determining its tax classification. See 

26 U.S.C. 5041(b). 

While there were many supportive 

comments on this issue in response to 

Notice No. 73, some wine industry 

members and associations opposed the 

proposed amendment, urging TTB to 

retain the provisions in the regulations 

that permit the use of the designation 

‘‘table wine’’ or ‘‘light wine’’ for wines 

with alcohol content levels of at least 7 

percent and no more than 14 percent 

alcohol by volume. On the other hand, 

as previously mentioned, the Wine 

Institute commented in response to 

Notice No. 176 in favor of requiring 

numerical alcohol content statements on 

the labels of all wines, including table 

wines. TTB recognizes the views of 

some industry members may have 

changed since Notice No. 73 was issued 

in 2007. 

Thus, this proposed rule provides for 

mandatory alcohol content statements 

under the IRC regulations for all wines 

and removes the option for a ‘‘table 

wine’’ or ‘‘light wine’’ designation to be 

used in lieu of a numerical statement of 

alcohol content. See proposed 

§§ 4.36(b), 24.257(a)(3), and 27.59(a)(3). 

‘‘Table wine,’’ ‘‘light wine,’’ and related 

terms may still be included as optional 

information under the definitions in 

§ 4.21. 

Wines subject to the FAA Act (i.e., 

wines containing at least 7 percent 

alcohol by volume) would also be 

subject to the proposed rules in part 4 

with regard to the formatting of alcohol 

content statements, as well as the 

inclusion of a statement of fluid ounces 

of alcohol per serving, under TTB’s 

authority under the FAA Act to ensure 

consistency in the presentation of 

information on labels. See 27 U.S.C. 

205(e). 

The proposed rule also removes the 

option to list the alcohol content for 

wines in terms of ranges. Instead, TTB 

is proposing to require the proposed 

mandatory alcohol content statements to 

be within the tolerances set forth in 

current § 4.36 for wines with at least 7 

percent alcohol by volume and within a 

tolerance of plus or minus 0.75 

percentage points for wines with less 

than 7 percent alcohol by volume. 

c. Comments Sought 

TTB is soliciting comments on the 

proposed expansion of alcohol content 

labeling for malt beverages and wines, 

including on the below topics: 

1. What are the potential benefits to 

consumers and industry members from 

a requirement for alcohol content 

statements, expressed as a percentage of 

alcohol by volume, on the labels of all 

alcohol beverage products? 

2. Will the proposed requirement for 

alcohol content labeling for all beer and 

malt beverages result in additional costs 

and burdens for brewers and importers, 

particularly small businesses? Will the 

increase in alcohol content tolerances 

mitigate or reduce those costs and 

burdens? 

3. Will the proposed increase in 

alcohol content tolerances for malt 

beverages mislead consumers? If so, 

does the same argument apply to wines, 

which currently have a 1.5 percentage 

point tolerance for wines up to 14 

percent alcohol by volume, and a 1 

percentage point tolerance for wines 

with an alcohol content of over 14 

percent alcohol by volume? 

4. Do the proposed labeling 

requirements for non-alcoholic malt 

beverages adequately advise the 

consumer that the products contain less 

than 0.5 percent alcohol by volume? 

Should non-alcoholic malt beverages be 

exempted from calorie and nutrient 

labeling requirements? 

5. What, if any, additional costs or 

burdens would requiring numerical 

alcohol content statements for table 

wines impose on wineries and 

importers, particularly small 

businesses? 

6. Would an alternative that allowed 

table wines to indicate alcohol content 

as a range (e.g., 7–14 percent alcohol by 

volume) place less of a burden on small 

wineries and importers? Would this 

approach provide sufficient information 

to consumers? 

5. Placement of Alcohol Content 

Statements as Part of the Alcohol Facts 

Statement 

TTB is proposing to amend the FAA 

Act labeling regulations in parts 4, 5, 

and 7 to require that alcohol content 

statements that are already required 

under the FAA Act, or that are proposed 

in this document to be required under 

either the FAA Act (for malt beverages) 

or under the IRC (for table wines), be 

placed on the label as part of the 

mandatory Alcohol Facts statement. The 

alcohol content of an alcohol beverage 

is one of the most important pieces of 

information about the product for the 

consumer and thus should be 

highlighted and easy to locate on the 

label. TTB believes that providing this 

information as part of the panel 

facilitates consumers’ evaluation of the 

alcohol content in context with the 

nutritional information. 

Over the past 17 years, TTB has 

amended the regulations to remove the 

brand label concept for distilled spirits 

and malt beverages, which had required 

certain information to appear together, 

such as the brand name, class and type 

designation, and if applicable, the 

alcohol content. For distilled spirits, the 

mandatory alcohol content statement 

currently must appear in the same field 

of vision as the brand name and the 

class/type designation. See 27 CFR 

5.63(a) and 7.63(a), as amended by T.D. 

TTB–158 and T.D. TTB–176. With 

regard to wine, it bears noting that the 

World Wine Trade Group (WWTG) 

Agreement on Requirements for Wine 

Labeling provides that wines may be 

imported bearing certain common 

mandatory information (CMI), including 

alcohol content, on any label on the 

wine container, and that this 

information may be placed within a 

single field of vision, meaning any part 

of the surface of the container, 

excluding its base and cap, that can be 

seen without having to turn the 

container. Under this Agreement, as 

long as all of the CMI elements are 

visible at the same time, they will meet 

the placement requirements (if any) of 

each member country. Accordingly, in 

2013, TTB amended the wine labeling 

regulations to allow alcohol content to 

appear on labels other than the brand 

label. See T.D. TTB–114 (78 FR 34565, 

June 10, 2013). The 2013 amendment 

provided greater flexibility in wine 

labeling and conformed the TTB wine 

labeling regulations to the WWTG 

agreement. 

Nothing in this proposal prevents an 

alcohol content statement from also 

appearing on the single field of vision 

label(s) with the other elements of CMI, 

provided that it is also included on the 

Alcohol Facts statement. Likewise, this 

proposal does not preclude the 

placement of the Alcohol Facts 

statement (as prescribed in this 

document) together with the other 

elements of CMI on the single field of 

vision label. TTB encourages U.S. 

trading partners, including other WWTG 

members, and all interested persons, to 

submit comments in response to this 

specific issue in the proposal. 

Specifically, TTB seeks comments on 

the following questions: 


KHAMMOND on DSK9W7S144PROD with PROPOSALS3
6670 Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 11 / Friday, January 17, 2025 / Proposed Rules 

24 In their comment to Notice No. 232, CSPI stated 

that they are no longer calling for the pure alcohol 

content in fluid ounces per serving because they 

believe this would serve the same purpose as 

standard drink labeling and thus would be 

duplicative. 

25Edmunds, C.E.R., Gold, N., Burton, R. et al., 

The effectiveness of alcohol label information for 

increasing knowledge and awareness: a rapid 

evidence review, BMC Public Health 23, 1458 

(2023), available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889- 

023-16327-x. 

1. Would it be easier for consumers to 

locate alcohol content information on a 

label if it is required to be included in 

the Alcohol Facts statement and if so, 

why? 

2. Alternatively, should TTB allow 

alcohol content labeling as an optional 

element of the Alcohol Facts statement? 

3. Does the placement of alcohol 

content information affect costs of 

compliance and regulatory burdens? If 

so, how? 

4. Does the proposal to require 

alcohol content information as part of 

the Alcohol Facts statement affect 

competition or issues addressed by 

international trade agreements or 

international standards? 

6. Mandatory Statement of Alcohol in 

Fluid Ounces of Pure Alcohol per 

Serving 

TTB is proposing to require a 

statement of alcohol content in fluid 

ounces of pure alcohol per serving as 

part of the mandatory Alcohol Facts 

statement. TTB received numerous 

comments in response to Notice Nos. 73 

and 232 stating that per-serving alcohol 

content is critically important 

information to consumers. Thousands of 

consumers commented on Notice No. 

232 that per-serving alcohol content is 

important to help people understand 

how much alcohol they are consuming. 

The National Center for Health 

Research, a non-profit think tank 

focused on health issues, stated that 

alcohol beverage packaging should 

‘‘provide information on the total 

amount of alcohol in the container (not 

just alcohol by volume) so that 

consumers can make informed choices 

and avoid excessive consumption.’’ The 

American Public Health Association, an 

advocacy organization for public health, 

commented that alcohol beverage 

containers should provide the ‘‘total 

amount of alcohol in the container (not 

alcohol by volume)’’ along with other 

information like nutrients and 

ingredients because ‘‘[m]ost heavy 

drinkers are not alcohol dependent, and 

additional information . . . could 

influence individual decisions about 

alcohol use.’’ Commenters also 

indicated that many governmental and 

health agencies provide consumption 

and moderation advice to consumers 

that is based on the amount of pure 

ethyl alcohol in each serving or drink, 

so information about the quantity of 

pure ethyl alcohol per serving is needed 

to allow consumers to follow this 

advice. 

TTB believes that listing alcohol 

content in fluid ounces per serving on 

the alcohol beverage container could 

help consumers understand how much 

alcohol they are consuming and follow 

consumption and moderation advice 

from government and public health 

organizations, if they wish to do so. TTB 

further believes that requiring this 

information on labels would further its 

mandate to ensure that labels provide 

consumers with adequate information as 

to the alcohol content of the product. 

Accordingly, TTB proposes to amend 

the regulations to require the listing of 

the number of U.S. fluid ounces of pure 

ethyl alcohol per serving, expressed to 

the nearest tenth of a fluid ounce, on the 

mandatory Alcohol Facts statement. In a 

panel, the information would be 

required to be indented under the 

alcohol-by-volume statement. 

For wines with an alcohol content of 

no more than 14 percent alcohol by 

volume, TTB recognizes that the FAA 

Act does not require numerical alcohol 

content statements on labels. As 

explained earlier, however, TTB is 

proposing to amend the IRC regulations 

in parts 24 and 27 to require alcohol 

content statements on all wine labels. 

TTB believes its authority under the 

FAA Act extends to ensuring 

consistency in the format and 

presentation of all alcohol content 

statements appearing on wines subject 

to part 4, even if such statements are not 

required by the FAA Act. Accordingly, 

proposed § 4.36 provides that where an 

alcohol statement, as a percentage of 

alcohol by volume, appears on a wine 

label subject to the requirements of part 

4, it must conform to the requirements 

of § 4.36 and must appear in an Alcohol 

Facts statement in accordance with the 

requirements of new subpart L of 27 

CFR part 4. 

This proposal includes all distilled 

spirits and includes malt beverages with 

at least one half of one percent alcohol 

by volume. However, as explained 

above in Section VII.B.4, for malt 

beverages with less than one half of one 

percent alcohol by volume, TTB 

believes that the designation ‘‘nonalcoholic’’ (along with the required 

statement that such products contain 

less than 0.5 percent alcohol by volume) 

or ‘‘alcohol-free’’ (for products 

containing no alcohol) is sufficient, and 

that there is no need to specify the 

percentage of alcohol by volume as part 

of the Alcohol Facts statement. 

Similarly, TTB is not proposing to 

require the disclosure of the number of 

fluid ounces of alcohol per serving for 

such products. 

The 2003 petition from CSPI and 

other consumer organizations 

(discussed in Section III.A) proposed 

that, in addition to presenting pure 

ethyl alcohol content in fluid ounces 

per serving, Alcohol Facts labels should 

disclose the number of ‘‘standard 

drinks’’ per serving and per container.24

CSPI proposed that a ‘‘standard drink’’ 

be defined identically to the Dietary 

Guidelines for Americans ‘‘alcoholic 

drink equivalent’’ as containing 14 

grams, or .6 fluid ounces, of pure ethyl 

alcohol. CSPI further proposed that 

labels should include a statement that 

‘‘A standard drink contains .6 fl oz of 

pure alcohol’’ and consumption advice 

provided by the Dietary Guidelines for 

Americans. In response to Notice No. 

232, TTB received a large number of 

comments from consumers supporting 

CSPI’s proposal to include ‘‘standard 

drink’’ information on alcohol beverage 

labels. The Centers for Disease Control 

also provided a comment that cited a 

study that found including the 

recommended alcohol guidelines as 

well as standard drink sizes were more 

effective than only including percent of 

alcohol by volume for improving 

estimates of alcohol consumption.25

TTB did not propose to define a 

‘‘standard drink’’ or to mandate 

inclusion of the consumption advice 

provided by the Dietary Guidelines for 

Americans in the 2007 proposed rule, 

Notice No. 73. The preamble to Notice 

No. 73 presents, in detail, TTB’s 

explanation for why it was not 

including those elements, and TTB 

believes that the rationale set forth in 

Notice No. 73 on these issues still 

applies. 

Alcohol beverages are rarely packaged 

as products equaling a ‘‘standard drink’’ 

of exactly 0.6 fluid ounces of pure 

alcohol. Products will therefore almost 

always contain less than one standard 

drink or multiple standard drinks, 

potentially leading to consumer 

confusion. TTB believes that consumers 

would also be confused about the 

difference between the terms ‘‘standard 

drink’’ and ‘‘serving size.’’ Accordingly, 

TTB is not proposing to adopt CSPI’s 

suggestions about use of the term 

‘‘standard drink’’ or mandating 

inclusion of the Dietary Guidelines for 

Americans’ advice on moderate 

drinking (which may be updated based 

on any changes in the guidelines over 

time). 

TTB is soliciting comments from all 

interested persons on these issues. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 11 / Friday, January 17, 2025 / Proposed Rules 6671 

Specifically, TTB solicits comments on 

the following: 

1. Would including information about 

the fluid ounces of pure ethyl alcohol 

per serving in the proposed Alcohol 

Facts statement improve the ability of 

consumers to follow the consumption 

and moderation advice provided by 

governmental and health agencies, if 

they so choose? 

2. Would requiring information about 

the fluid ounces of pure ethyl alcohol 

per serving in the proposed Alcohol 

Facts statement impose additional costs 

or burdens for alcohol beverage 

manufacturers and importers, 

particularly for small businesses? 

3. Is there a better way of presenting 

the volume of alcohol content per 

serving? Specifically, should the term 

‘‘standard drink’’ be defined and used in 

place of or in addition to fluid ounces 

of pure ethyl alcohol per serving? 

4. TTB notes that the Dietary 

Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025, 

use the terms ‘‘drink,’’ and ‘‘alcoholic 

drink equivalent,’’ and seeks comments 

on whether any of those terms should be 

used or defined for use on labels. 

5. Should the proposed mandatory 

Alcohol Facts statement include a 

summary of the Dietary Guidelines’ 

advice on moderate drinking (to be 

updated based on any changes in the 

guidelines over time)? 

TTB also specifically seeks comments 

on whether these proposals would 

provide useful information to 

consumers or would instead be 

confusing or misleading, and whether 

inclusion of these elements would affect 

the costs of compliance and regulatory 

burdens. 

7. Statements of Average Analysis and 

Serving Facts Statements 

Under this proposed rule, the 

mandatory Alcohol Facts statement 

would replace the current voluntary 

statements of average analysis and 

Serving Facts statements on alcohol 

beverage labels. Thus, as of the 

compliance date, those statements 

would no longer satisfy the proposed 

mandatory Alcohol Facts labeling 

requirements. 

8. Linear Display, Type Size, and 

Electronic Display of Alcohol Facts 

Information 

a. Linear Display 

TTB proposes to allow the option of 

a linear display placed on the container 

(including a keg), as long as it is set 

apart from other information and is 

placed inside a box with the title 

‘‘Alcohol Facts’’ in bold-faced type. TTB 

received comments in response to 

Notice No. 232 expressing concern 

about label space on certain containers, 

such as 50 mL bottles, and/or whether 

new information requirements would 

require a back label, which would 

increase the cost of compliance. TTB 

believes the linear display will allow 

information to fit on labels of most 

containers without the need for a back 

label, while requiring the linear display 

to be in a box will make it more 

noticeable to consumers. TTB is also 

proposing to liberalize the format and 

size requirements for the panel display, 

as compared to the Notice No. 73 

proposal, to encourage industry 

members to use the panel format rather 

than the linear format. 

TTB believes that these changes 

would reduce the burden on industry 

members and are consistent with TTB’s 

mandate to issue regulations to ensure 

that labels provide consumers with 

adequate information about the identity, 

quality, and alcohol content of alcohol 

beverages. Examples of Alcohol Facts 

panels in a linear display appear in the 

proposed regulations at §§ 4.112(h), 

5.212(h) and 7.212(j). 

b. Type Size 

TTB is proposing that the minimum 

type size requirements for Alcohol Facts 

statements mirror existing type size 

requirements for mandatory information 

in the wine, distilled spirits, and malt 

beverage regulations in parts 4, 5, and 

7, respectively. See 27 CFR 4.38, 5.53, 

and 7.53. TTB is also proposing to 

remove the existing maximum type size 

requirement for alcohol content 

statements appearing in the proposed 

mandatory Alcohol Facts statements for 

wine and malt beverages subject to the 

FAA Act. Currently, the maximum type 

size for alcohol content statements is 3 

millimeters for all wine containers. See 

§ 4.38(b)(3). For malt beverages, the 

limit is 3 millimeters for containers of 

40 fluid ounces or less and 4 

millimeters for containers of more than 

40 fluid ounces. See § 7.53(b). TTB 

believes that the maximum type size 

requirement may no longer serve a 

purpose, and that a maximum type size 

requirement for any one element of an 

Alcohol Facts statement is likely to 

either lead to differences in type sizes 

among the elements or create a de facto 

limitation on the size of the overall 

panel, which might be unnecessarily 

limiting to industry members in 

designing their labels. 

Regarding malt beverages, TTB is also 

seeking public comment on whether to 

remove the maximum type size for 

optional alcohol content statements. 

TTB received a comment requesting 

removal of this limitation in the context 

of its label modernization rulemaking. 

See T.D. TTB–176 (87 FR 7526, 

February 9, 2022). In response, TTB 

stated that such a regulatory change 

should not be adopted without 

providing more specific notice (and an 

opportunity to comment) to interested 

parties. TTB is now seeking public 

comment on this issue. 

c. Electronic Display of Alcohol Facts 

Information 

TTB considered, but is not proposing, 

to allow the proposed Alcohol Facts 

panel to be distributed by electronic 

means via a link, code, or other marking 

on the physical label rather than 

requiring the full panel to appear on the 

physical label itself. TTB believes that 

allowing mandatory information to 

appear somewhere other than the 

physical label would decrease consumer 

accessibility to information that to 

informs decisions about purchasing and 

consuming alcohol beverages. As 

detailed below, TTB seeks comment on 

this assumption. 

TTB’s current policy, articulated in 

Industry Circular 2022–2, ‘‘Use of Social 

Media in the Advertising of Alcohol 

Beverages,’’ allows the use of links, 

including QR codes, on labels, and 

treats the linked website as advertising 

material if such use falls within the 

FAA Act’s definition of an 

advertisement. Thus, industry members 

may currently include QR codes that 

link to websites with additional 

information about their products, 

including optional calorie and nutrient 

information. However, TTB currently 

does not allow mandatory labeling 

requirements to be satisfied solely by 

including the information on a website 

with a link or code on the physical 

label; instead, the mandatory 

information must appear on the label 

itself. 

In Notice No. 232, TTB asked if there 

are alternative ways of providing the 

Alcohol Facts information, for example, 

by allowing information to be provided 

through a website that could be 

accessed by consumers via a quick 

response code (QR code) or website 

address on the label. In response to this 

request, individual commenters and 

public health and consumer advocacy 

groups largely opposed the use of QR 

codes for mandatory label information. 

On the other hand, the vast majority of 

trade organizations representing 

industry members commented that they 

support disclosure via QR code for at 

least some of the information 

disclosures proposed in this 

rulemaking. However, there were 

exceptions. The Beer Institute 

commented that nutritional and alcohol 


KHAMMOND on DSK9W7S144PROD with PROPOSALS3
6672 Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 11 / Friday, January 17, 2025 / Proposed Rules 

26Pew Research Center, Mobile Fact Sheet, 

available at https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/ 

fact-sheet/mobile. (accessed May 9, 2024). 

27Federal Communications Commission, 

Fourteenth Broadband Deployment Report, 2021, 

available at FCC-21-18A1.pdf. 

28Big Village’s CARAVAN U.S. Online Omnibus 

Survey, administered March 15–20, 2024. The 

survey question asked: ‘‘How would you prefer to 

learn about the ingredients, alcohol content, 

allergens, calories, and nutritional content of an 

alcoholic beverage? [Select one answer] 1. Read this 

information on the label of the container; 2. Scan 

a QR code on the label; 3. Visit a website address 

provided on the label; 4. I do not want to learn this 

information.’’ 

29Werle, C.O.C., et al, Literature review on means 

of food information provision other than packaging 

labels, JRC Technical Report, 2022, available at 

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/ 

bitstream/JRC128410/JRC128410_01.pdf. 

content information should appear on 

the physical label. TTB also received 

comments from small producers and a 

few consumers supporting the use of QR 

codes or websites to disclose nutritional 

information. 

The comments supporting the use of 

disclosure via electronic means cited 

three primary points. First, web-based 

disclosure is a cost-efficient means to 

provide information to consumers that 

provides producers with flexibility and 

reduces time to market. Second, 

commenters cited to the broad 

implementation of digital labels in 

Europe and the benefits electronic 

information disclosure could have for 

international trade. Multiple 

commenters also touted the benefits of 

electronic disclosure for tailoring 

product information to country-specific 

regulations and providing information 

in a language appropriate to the point of 

sale. Finally, several commenters stated 

that web-based disclosure is consumerfriendly, particularly for products sold 

in smaller containers. These 

commenters argued that QR codes 

prevent labels from becoming cluttered, 

which can distract consumers from the 

most relevant information, make labels 

difficult to read, and contribute to 

consumer confusion. 

These points were countered by 

comments from public health and 

consumer advocacy organizations, 

academics, and consumers. These 

commenters argued that disclosing the 

information electronically would create 

an unreasonable burden on consumers 

both because many consumers do not 

have access to a smart phone, or to the 

internet, as they shop for alcoholic 

beverages and because consumers do 

not want to have to go to a website to 

access the information. 

CSPI commented that the barriers to 

information created by electronic 

disclosure would disproportionately 

affect consumers who are older or have 

lower incomes, and those living in rural 

areas and on tribal lands. CSPI cited a 

2023 survey conducted by the Pew 

Research Center that found that 79 

percent of adults with annual incomes 

less than $30,000 owned smartphones 

compared to 90–98 percent of higher 

income groups and found similar sized 

gaps by age, with only 76 percent of 

adults aged 65 and older owning 

smartphones compared with 89–97 

percent of adults in younger age 

groups.26 Data from the Federal 

Communications Commission also 

shows a rural-urban gap for access to 

high speed mobile 4G LTE and lower 

access to ‘‘fixed terrestrial services’’ 

(i.e., satellite or wireless internet/ 

broadband). The gap in access to high 

speed fixed terrestrial services is even 

larger between tribal lands and urban 

areas.27

Regarding consumer preferences on 

the location of information, several 

commenters cited a survey that found 

76 percent of consumers would prefer to 

learn about alcohol and nutritional 

content of alcoholic beverages by 

reading the information on the label of 

the container, as opposed to scanning a 

QR code or visiting a website.28 And the 

Consumer Federation of America cited a 

review of consumer behavior 

experiments by the European Union’s 

Joint Research Centre that found ‘‘the 

spontaneous use of QR codes by 

consumers is very low.’’ 29

TTB also received thousands of nearly 

identical comments from consumers 

that oppose QR codes as an alternative 

to on-container labeling. The 

commenters stated that ‘‘[f]or nutrition 

and alcohol content to be accessible to 

all, it is vital that it be mandated to 

appear on each container.’’ 

As previously stated, TTB currently 

requires all mandatory information 

disclosures to appear on the physical 

label of an alcohol beverage container. 

At this time, TTB has decided not to 

propose allowing this information to be 

disclosed electronically via a link or 

code on the physical label (e.g., a QR 

code) rather than on the physical label 

itself. TTB is persuaded by the 

comments from public health and 

consumer advocacy organizations and 

consumers that allowing the disclosure 

of information via electronic means 

would create barriers for consumer 

access, particularly for consumers in 

certain demographics and those living 

in rural areas. However, TTB recognizes 

that access to technology and cultural 

norms surrounding the provision of 

information via electronic means are 

rapidly advancing and seeks comment 

on whether any final rule should allow 

the proposed Alcohol Facts information 

to be disclosed via electronic means. 

TTB is soliciting comments from all 

interested persons on these issues, 

including on the following specific 

topics: 

1. Would consumers have trouble 

locating Alcohol Facts information if 

that information is presented in a linear 

display? 

2. Does the proposal to require the 

linear display to appear in a box with 

the title ‘‘Alcohol Facts’’ in bold-face 

type allow consumers to better locate 

the information? Alternatively, should 

industry members be allowed the 

flexibility to include a linear display 

that is not surrounded by a box? 

3. Do consumers, industry members, 

or other interested parties have 

comments on the type size and general 

formatting requirements proposed for 

both linear displays and panels? 

4. How would the proposed 

formatting requirements, including the 

linear display option, affect the costs 

and other regulatory burdens? What are 

the benefits of the proposed formatting 

requirements? 

5. Should TTB remove the maximum 

type size limitation for mandatory 

statements of alcohol content for wine 

and malt beverages that appear in an 

Alcohol Facts statement? For malt 

beverages, should TTB remove the 

maximum type size limitation for 

alcohol content statements that may 

appear elsewhere on the label as well? 

6. What alternatives exist to convey 

Alcohol Facts information to 

consumers? How, if it all, would the 

alternatives affect competition in the 

marketplace as compared to displaying 

the information as proposed on the 

physical label? What are the costs and 

benefits of aligning Alcohol Facts 

information to requirements of other 

countries? 

7. If TTB adopts mandatory Alcohol 

Facts labeling for alcohol beverages, 

should it include the option of 

satisfying the requirement by making 

the information available electronically, 

for example by including a QR code or 

website address on the label to allow 

consumers to view mandatory Alcohol 

Facts statements on their mobile devices 

instead of on the product label? Would 

this option provide consumers with 

sufficient access to Alcohol Facts 

information at the retail store so that 

they can make informed decisions, 

given issues such as the need to use a 

smartphone, potential issues regarding 

the adequacy of cellular or Wi-Fi 

coverage at some retail stores, and other 

potential technological challenges? 

Would the provision of mandatory 

information disclosures via electronic 


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means create disproportional barriers to 

access for particular communities? 

8. How would the option of disclosing 

the proposed Alcohol Facts information 

via electronic means affect the costs and 

other regulatory burdens? What are the 

benefits of disclosure via electronic 

means? 

9. If TTB were to allow mandatory 

information to be disclosed 

electronically, should TTB allow all of 

the proposed Alcohol Facts information 

to be disclosed electronically or should 

some of the information be required to 

appear on the physical label? 

10. If TTB allowed multiple options to 

convey Alcohol Facts information to 

consumers, could the lack of uniformity 

create consumer confusion? 

9. Serving Size Reference Amounts 

Consistent with the serving sizes 

found in TTB Ruling 2013–2, TTB 

proposes the following reference serving 

sizes in new §§ 4.111(b), 5.211(b), and 

7.211(b), for wines, distilled spirits, and 

malt beverages, respectively: 

Serving size 

Alcohol percent by volume 

Wine Distilled spirits Malt beverages 

1.5 fl oz (44 mL), or 50 mL for 50 mL containers of distilled spirits............................................. Above 24% ........................ Above 24%. 

2.5 fl oz (74 mL) .............................................................. Above 16 to 24% ............... Above 16 to 24% ............... Above 16 to 24%. 

5 fl oz (148 mL) ............................................................... 7 to 16% ............................ Above 7 to 16% ................. Above 7 to 16%. 

12 fl oz (355 mL) ............................................................. ............................................ Not more than 7% ............. Not more than 7%. 

TTB recognizes that these serving size 

reference amounts do not reflect the 

multiple servings that may be consumed 

on a single occasion. Serving size 

reference amounts are not intended as 

recommended consumption amounts 

but rather are intended to be used as a 

reference amount for the consumer to 

determine alcohol, nutrient, and calorie 

intake. TTB seeks comments on whether 

the proposed serving size reference 

amounts should be adopted, and if not, 

what other serving sizes should be used. 

TTB specifically seeks comments on 

the following issues: 

1. Are the proposed reference 

amounts a reasonably accurate 

representation of the amount of the 

product customarily consumed as a 

single serving? If not, what data or other 

information should TTB consider that 

would give a better estimate of the 

amount customarily consumed for a 

specific product category? 

2. Are the proposed reference 

amounts more accurate than the serving 

sizes set forth in TTB Ruling 2004–1 

(1.5 fl oz for distilled spirits, 5 fl oz for 

wines, and 12 fl oz for malt beverages, 

regardless of the alcohol content)? Why 

or why not? 

3. Should TTB allow greater 

flexibility in serving sizes? 

4. Should the serving size reference 

amounts be exactly equal to an alcoholic 

drink equivalent of 0.6 fluid ounces of 

alcohol, or would this mislead 

consumers by not recognizing the way 

in which alcohol beverages are typically 

consumed? 

10. Dual-Column Alcohol Facts Panel 

Display 

TTB proposes to allow for the 

optional presentation of Alcohol Facts 

panels in a dual-column format. The 

first column would provide the 

information for the standard reference 

serving size, while the second column 

would provide information about the 

contents of the entire container. TTB is 

proposing to allow the dual-column 

format on alcohol beverages sold in 

containers holding at least 200 percent 

and less than 500 percent of the serving 

size reference amount. See proposed 

§§ 4.112, 5.212, and 7.212 below. CSPI 

suggested that TTB could model its 

regulations after FDA’s policy, which 

requires dual column nutrition labeling 

for products containing more than 2 and 

up to 3 servings per container. See 21 

CFR 101.9(b)(12)(i). TTB, however, is 

proposing to allow dual-column 

labeling on containers up to 5 servings 

because TTB is aware of products in the 

marketplace that are sold in larger 

containers for which there may be a 

valid reason to include a dual-column 

label. 

TTB is also proposing that alcohol 

beverages packaged and sold in 

containers with a net content of less 

than 200 percent of a single serving size 

reference amount must be labeled as 

containing a single serving, and a single 

serving size is the net content of the 

container. This means that, for example, 

a malt beverage sold in a can that 

contains 150 percent of a single serving 

size reference amount would be labeled 

with the entire net contents being 

considered as one serving. 

TTB seeks comments on the following 

specific issues, and may consider 

different rules for dual-column labeling 

and single-serving containers based on 

the comments: 

1. Does dual-column labeling create 

the impression that consumption of 

multiple servings of an alcohol beverage 

at one time is expected or 

recommended? 

2. Should dual-column displays be 

limited to containers with three or fewer 

servings, consistent with the FDA 

regulations? Or is a limit of less than 

five servings better suited to the way in 

which alcohol beverages may be bottled 

and labeled? 

3. Should dual-column displays be 

allowed on any container, regardless of 

the number of servings in that container, 

consistent with TTB Ruling 2013–2? 

4. The proposed rule would require 

containers with a net content of more 

than 100 percent but less than 200 

percent of a single serving size reference 

amount to be labeled as containing a 

single serving. TTB solicits comments 

on whether this is the best way to 

convey the alcohol and nutrient content 

of these products to consumers. 

11. Implementation Period 

TTB is proposing a compliance date 

of 5 years from the date that a final rule 

resulting from this document is 

published in the Federal Register to 

minimize the costs and burdens 

associated with the proposed new 

labeling information. TTB solicits 

comments on whether the proposed 

compliance date would suffice to limit 

the impact on small businesses and to 

reduce overall costs of compliance 

while ensuring that consumers are 

adequately informed. 

TTB received a number of comments 

in response to Notice No. 232 requesting 

a sufficiently long transition period 

between publication of a final rule and 

implementation of the rule to allow 

businesses, and particularly small 

businesses, ample time to exhaust 

existing label stocks and to bring labels 

and websites into compliance with the 

new regulations. One commenter 

emphasized that a longer 

implementation period is needed to 

allow TTB time to educate regulated 

industry members on new requirements, 

create resources for small businesses, 

and publish clarifying guidance. 


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30U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Regulatory 

Impact Analysis for Final Rules On: ‘‘Food 

Labeling: Revision of the Nutrition and Supplement 

Facts Labels’’ and ‘‘Food Labeling: Serving Sizes of 

Foods That Can Reasonably Be Consumed at One 

Eating Occasion; Dual-Column Labeling; Updating, 

Modifying, and Establishing Certain Reference 

Amounts Customarily Consumed; Serving Size for 

Breath Mints; and Technical Amendments,’’ 2016, 

available at https://www.fda.gov/media/98712/ 

download. 

31See September 28, 2022, statement by Distilled 

Spirits Council of the United States, available at 

https://www.distilledspirits.org/news/distilledspirits-council-director-members-to-provideserving-facts-information-for-spirits-products-aspart-of-white-house-conference-on-hungernutrition-and-health/. 

While most commenters did not 

suggest a specific time period, the 

Brewers Association recommended an 

implementation period of at least 3 

years and the American Distilled Spirits 

Alliance requested at least 5 years. The 

Brewers Association said, ‘‘a quicker 

implementation schedule would risk 

placing financial burdens on brewers 

and other producers, particularly small 

ones.’’ CSPI recommended that, to 

minimize costs, TTB provide an 

implementation long enough that many 

producers would make updates to their 

labels even absent the regulation. CSPI 

cited to an FDA regulatory impact 

analysis for a food labeling rule that 

found food and beverage products tend 

to be voluntarily relabeled on a 2- to 5- 

year cycle.30

TTB believes that a 5-year period 

would provide both small and large 

industry members with sufficient time 

to phase in the requirements of the 

proposed mandatory Alcohol Facts 

labeling in a cost-effective manner. As 

discussed later in this document, TTB 

estimates that industry members change 

their labels at least once every 42 

months; therefore, a 5-year compliance 

period would allow all affected industry 

members to make the changes required 

by this proposal at the same time as a 

regularly scheduled label change. See 

Section IX, Cost Analysis, below, for 

additional information on the estimated 

costs of this proposed rule, which are 

affected by the length of the 

implementation period and estimates of 

the frequency of changes to alcohol 

beverage labels. 

Under this proposal, TTB will not 

require industry members to submit 

new COLA applications when the only 

change being made to a label is the 

inclusion, or alteration, of a required 

Alcohol Facts panel or statement 

containing alcohol content information. 

Therefore, this proposal would not 

require the submission of a new 

application for label approval simply to 

cover revisions to the calorie, nutrient, 

and alcohol content labeling of the 

product in accordance with the new 

requirements. 

Under current guidance, industry 

members have been allowed to label 

their products voluntarily with either a 

statement of average analysis or a 

Serving Facts statement. See TTB 

Rulings 2004–1 and 2013–2. TTB has 

also allowed, via FAQs published on 

TTB’s website, ‘‘Alcohol Facts’’ panels 

that contain information about alcohol 

content, but not nutrient content. All of 

these voluntary statements differ in 

several respects from the mandatory 

Alcohol Facts statement proposed in 

this document. During the 

implementation period, industry 

members may continue to use approved 

COLAs that contain these statements, as 

long as they comply with current 

guidance. 

TTB further believes that consumers 

will begin to benefit from this 

rulemaking well in advance of the 5- 

year implementation date because TTB 

expects that many industry members 

will come into early compliance with 

the rule. As previously discussed, 95 

percent of the beer volume sold by 

Anheuser-Busch, Molson Coors 

Beverage Company, Constellation 

Brands Beer Division, HEINEKEN USA, 

and FIFCO USA already contains 

nutritional information in the form of a 

voluntary Serving Facts Statement, and 

the Distilled Spirits Council of the 

United States (DISCUS) announced that 

all spirits products distributed in the 

United States by DISCUS Director 

Members will include nutrition 

information by June 2024.31 Given rising 

industry participation in voluntary 

disclosure of nutrition information, TTB 

expects that if a final rule on Alcohol 

Facts is issued, many industry members 

will move to include Alcohol Facts 

statements on labels in advance of the 

5-year implementation period. 

Accordingly, effective after a 5-year 

implementation period, TTB proposes 

in amended §§ 4.32, 5.63 and 7.63 to 

mandate an Alcohol Facts labeling 

statement on all wines, distilled spirits, 

and malt beverages that contains both 

alcohol and nutrient content 

information, as described above. The 

implementation period does not appear 

in the proposed regulatory text but will 

be incorporated in any final rule 

resulting from this rulemaking. 

TTB seeks comments on whether the 

length of the implementation period is 

adequate. In particular, TTB seeks 

comments on the following issues: 

1. How frequently do bottlers and 

importers of alcohol beverages typically 

change labels? 

2. How long do industry members 

need to comply with the requirements 

of the proposed rule? 

3. Will 5 years provide enough time 

for small businesses to coordinate 

labeling changes required by regulatory 

changes with labeling changes that are 

planned in the ordinary course of 

business? 

4. Is 5 years too long a compliance 

period? Should the compliance period 

instead be 2 years, 3 years, or another 

length of time? 

5. If a final rule is issued, will 

industry members begin 

implementation of the labeling changes 

in advance of the compliance date? 

VIII. Summary of Proposed Regulatory 

Changes 

Based on the above, TTB proposes to 

amend parts 4, 5, 7, 24, 25, and 27 of 

the TTB regulations to set forth 

requirements for the presentation of 

certain alcohol content, calorie, and 

nutrient information in a mandatory 

Alcohol Facts statement. These 

proposed changes involve the addition 

of a new subpart L in each of parts 4, 

5, and 7, as well as conforming changes 

elsewhere in parts 4, 5, and 7 of the TTB 

regulations. TTB also proposes 

amendments to parts 24, 25, and 27 of 

the TTB regulations with respect to the 

labeling of beers and wines under the 

IRC. The proposed regulatory 

amendments discussed in more detail 

earlier in this document are summarized 

below for ease of reading. 

A. Mandatory Alcohol Facts Statement 

TTB proposes a mandatory nutrient 

information statement on labels that 

must include the following information: 

the title ‘‘Alcohol Facts’’; the serving 

size; the number of servings per 

container; alcohol content as a 

percentage of alcohol by volume, the 

number of fluid ounces of pure ethyl 

alcohol per serving, the number of 

calories per serving; and the number, in 

grams per serving, of carbohydrates, fat, 

and protein. 

1. Serving Size and Servings per 

Container 

TTB proposes to define the term 

‘‘serving’’ or ‘‘serving size’’ as the 

amount of the alcohol beverage 

customarily consumed as a single 

serving, expressed in both U.S. fluid 

ounces, and, in parentheses, in 

milliliters, for wines, distilled spirits, 

and malt beverages. In new §§ 4.111(b), 

5.211(b), and 7.211(b), TTB proposes the 

use of serving size reference amounts, 

specific to each alcohol beverage 

category, which in each case most 

closely approximate the amount of the 


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product that a consumer customarily 

drinks as a single serving. This amount 

is specified as a reference amount, used 

only as a basis for the consumer to 

determine alcohol, calorie, and nutrient 

intake and not as a recommended 

consumption amount. These rules are 

intended to ensure as much uniformity 

as possible in labeling serving sizes 

within a product category. Consistent 

with the serving sizes in TTB Ruling 

2013–2, TTB proposes the following 

serving size reference amounts for each 

category: 

• Wine: For wines with an alcohol 

content of at least 7 percent and not 

more than 16 percent alcohol by 

volume, the serving size would be 5 

fluid ounces (about 148 mL). For wines 

with an alcohol content of more than 16 

percent alcohol by volume and not more 

than 24 percent alcohol by volume, the 

serving size would be 2.5 fluid ounces 

(about 74 mL). 

• Distilled spirits: For distilled spirits 

products containing not more than 7 

percent alcohol by volume, the serving 

size would be 12 fluid ounces (about 

355 mL). For products containing over 

7 percent and not more than 16 percent 

alcohol by volume, the serving size 

would be 5 fluid ounces (about 148 mL). 

For products containing over 16 percent 

and not more than 24 percent alcohol by 

volume, the serving size would be 2.5 

fluid ounces (about 74 mL). For 

products containing over 24 percent 

alcohol by volume, the serving size 

would be 1.5 fluid ounces (about 44 mL) 

or 50 mL if bottled in a 50 mL container. 

• Malt beverages: For malt beverages 

containing not more than 7 percent 

alcohol by volume, the serving size 

would be 12 fluid ounces (about 355 

mL). For products containing over 7 

percent and not more than 16 percent 

alcohol by volume, the serving size 

would be 5 fluid ounces (about 148 mL). 

For products containing over 16 percent 

and not more than 24 percent alcohol by 

volume, the serving size would be 2.5 

fluid ounces (about 74 mL). For 

products containing over 24 percent 

alcohol by volume, the serving size 

would be 1.5 fluid ounces (about 44 

mL). 

Since wines and distilled spirits are 

subject to metric standards of fill under 

the TTB regulations, the serving sizes 

for these categories would be set forth 

in both fluid ounces and milliliters. TTB 

recognizes that consumers may use fluid 

ounces rather than milliliters when 

pouring a glass of wine or a shot glass 

of distilled spirits. For consistency 

purposes, TTB proposes to require 

serving sizes for malt beverages also to 

be set forth in both fluid ounces and 

milliliters. 

2. Percentage of Alcohol by Volume 

In new §§ 4.111(c), 5.211(c), and 

7.211(c) for wines, distilled spirits, and 

malt beverages, respectively, TTB 

proposes to require alcohol content as a 

percentage of alcohol by volume to 

appear as part of the Alcohol Facts 

statement. TTB is also proposing to 

amend §§ 4.32, 5.63, and 7.63 to provide 

that alcohol content must appear as part 

of the mandatory Alcohol Facts 

statement, which may appear on any 

label affixed to the container. New 

§ 5.211(c) also provides that an Alcohol 

Facts statement for distilled spirits may 

also bear an optional statement of 

alcohol content in degrees of proof. TTB 

is also proposing to make conforming 

changes to the alcohol content 

regulations in §§ 4.36, 5.65, and 7.65. 

TTB is not proposing to change any 

requirements related to additional 

statements of alcohol by volume that 

may appear outside of an Alcohol Facts 

statement. 

TTB proposes to amend 

§§ 24.257(a)(3) and 27.59 to provide that 

alcohol content, expressed as a 

percentage of alcohol by volume, is 

required on labels for all wines subject 

to tax under the IRC. Additionally, TTB 

proposes to amend §§ 25.141(a), 

25.142(a), and 27.60 to require an 

alcohol content statement on labels of 

all beer subject to tax under the IRC. 

TTB is also proposing to make 

conforming amendments to §§ 27.59 and 

27.60 to require that imported wines 

and beers must be labeled with the same 

basic information applicable to 

domestic wines and beers under 27 CFR 

parts 24 and 25. Finally, the proposed 

rule also reorganizes §§ 27.59 and 27.60 

for purposes of clarity. 

3. Alcohol Expressed in Fluid Ounces 

In new §§ 4.111(d), 5.211(d), and 

7.211(d), TTB proposes to require the 

display of the number of U.S. fluid 

ounces of pure ethyl alcohol per serving 

on the mandatory Alcohol Facts 

statement. 

4. Calories 

In new §§ 4.111(e), 5.211(e), and 

7.211(e), TTB proposes standards for 

expressing a statement of the calorie 

content per serving for wines, distilled 

spirits, and malt beverages, respectively. 

5. Carbohydrates 

In new §§ 4.111(f), 5.211(f), and 

7.211(f), TTB proposes standards for 

expressing carbohydrate content per 

serving for wines, distilled spirits, and 

malt beverages, respectively. TTB also 

proposes to allow an optional statement 

of sugar content to appear in the 

Alcohol Facts statement. 

6. Fat 

In new §§ 4.111(g), 5.211(g), and 

7.211(g), TTB proposes standards for 

expressing fat content per serving for 

wines, distilled spirits, and malt 

beverages, respectively. 

7. Protein 

In new §§ 4.111(h), 5.211(h), and 

7.211(h), TTB proposes standards for 

expressing protein content per serving 

for wines, distilled spirits, and malt 

beverages, respectively. 

B. Format and Placement of the Alcohol 

Facts Statement 

New §§ 4.112, 5.212, and 7.212 set 

forth proposed formatting specifications 

for the Alcohol Facts Statement. TTB 

proposes to permit listing Alcohol Facts 

information in a linear fashion for all 

products. See these proposed sections 

for examples of linear displays. In 

addition, new §§ 4.113, 5.213, and 7.213 

would permit the Alcohol Facts 

statement to appear in either a vertical 

or horizontal presentation. 

C. Tolerance Levels 

New §§ 4.114, 5.214, and 7.214 set 

forth proposed tolerance levels for all of 

the elements required to appear in the 

Alcohol Facts statement. 

IX. Cost Analysis 

A. Summary 

Executive Order 12866 requires TTB 

to design regulations in the most costeffective manner that will achieve the 

regulatory objective. Accordingly, TTB 

seeks to tailor its regulations to impose 

the least burden on individuals, 

businesses of differing sizes, and other 

entities, consistent with the regulatory 

objective. 

In Notice No. 73, TTB solicited 

comments on the expected economic 

impact of the proposed rule on Serving 

Facts labeling, especially on small 

businesses. TTB asked commenters to 

provide specific cost data and asked the 

following question: How many small 

businesses would be impacted by the 

proposed rule, and what would be the 

economic impact of the proposal on 

these small businesses? 

No final rule was issued in response 

to Notice No. 73. TTB has concluded 

that many of the larger issues raised by 

the comments in response to Notice No. 

73 about costs and effects on small 

businesses are still valid concerns 

today. However, many of the comments, 

as well as the data that TTB previously 

relied upon for analyzing cost issues, 

are out-of-date. 

TTB solicited new comments on the 

costs of requiring per-serving alcohol 


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32FDA has periodically contracted with RTI 

International to provide a model to estimate the 

costs of various product labeling changes required 

by regulation. The most recent version is the ‘‘2014 

FDA Labeling Cost Model, Final Report, August 

2015,’’ available at https://

downloads.regulations.gov/FDA-2016-N-2527-2681/ 

content.pdf. 

33Throughout this section, the present 

discounted value of monetary values is calculated 

using a 2 percent discount rate in accordance with 

OMB Circular A–4 Chapter 12, available at https:// 

www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/ 

CircularA-4.pdf. 

34All costs in this proposal are provided in 2023 

dollars. 

and nutritional information on alcohol 

beverage labels in Notice No. 232. TTB 

asked if requiring this information on 

labels would be expected to increase the 

cost of products, and if so, by how 

much; to what extent businesses are 

already following voluntary guidelines 

for this information; and how any new 

mandatory labeling requirements would 

particularly affect small business and 

new businesses entering the 

marketplace. 

TTB is now undertaking a new effort 

to estimate the costs of complying with 

the current proposed rule. This cost 

estimate takes into consideration the 

costs and concerns raised by 

commenters to Notice No. 73 along with 

the more recent comments and data 

received in response to Notice No. 232. 

TTB invites comments on this estimate. 

To estimate the costs associated with 

this proposal, TTB utilized the 2014 

FDA Labeling Cost Model,32 adding its 

own data inputs, making various 

assumptions about the alcohol beverage 

industry, and adjusting costs to reflect 

inflation through January 2023. While 

FDA provided TTB with access to its 

model, TTB would like to emphasize 

that FDA is not responsible for the 

assumptions that TTB used in applying 

that model to the alcohol beverage 

market; nor is FDA responsible for the 

estimates set out in this analysis. 

As set forth in more detail below, 

based on the available data, TTB 

estimates the one-time total labeling 

costs associated with this proposed rule 

under a 2-year compliance period to 

have a present discounted value 

(PDV) 33 of approximately $323.4 

million (or approximately $161.7 

million per year). If the compliance date 

is extended to 3 years, the total PDV 

would be approximately $258.5 million 

(or $86.5 million per year); for 42 

months, the total PDV would be 

approximately $204.3 million (or $58.4 

million per year). Finally, if the 

compliance period is extended to 5 

years, the total PDV would be 

approximately $201.2 million (or $40.2 

million per year).34

As detailed below, TTB also invites 

comments on whether analytical testing 

of product samples should be included 

as a recurring cost after the initial 

compliance period, and if so, whether 

industry members would in fact send 

product samples to independent 

laboratories for testing on an annual 

basis. Assuming that each industry 

member sends two samples of each 

unique product formulation to be tested 

by an independent laboratory each year, 

TTB estimates the recurring costs of the 

proposed rule to be $64 million. 

However, as explained later in this 

document, TTB believes that once 

initial testing of a product is completed, 

industry members may choose not to 

(and are not required to) send that same 

product formulation for testing every 

year. For some products, initial testing 

may not even be necessary. 

TTB seeks comments on all aspects of 

its cost estimates. Given that the 

proposed changes would affect the 

labeling of virtually all alcohol 

beverages that fall under the definition 

of a wine, malt beverage, or distilled 

spirit under the FAA Act, and are for 

sale in interstate commerce, TTB 

believes that a compliance period of 5 

years would minimize the regulatory 

burdens and economic costs associated 

with the proposal, while still ensuring 

that consumers receive adequate 

information about the alcohol beverages 

they are purchasing within a reasonable 

period of time. TTB also believes that 

many industry members, particularly 

large companies, are likely to start 

voluntary compliance with any final 

rule in advance of the compliance date, 

given that many industry members 

already include calorie and nutrient 

statements on their labels. 

Finally, as noted elsewhere in this 

document, TTB also plans to seek 

comments in separate rulemaking 

projects on other labeling changes that 

would affect the industry, including 

mandatory ingredient and major food 

allergen labeling. TTB seeks comments 

on whether a single compliance date 

should be established for any changes 

resulting from these rulemaking 

projects. 

B. Purpose of Proposed Amendments 

As noted earlier in this document, the 

labeling provisions of the FAA Act, 

codified at 27 U.S.C. 205(e), provide the 

Secretary of the Treasury with authority 

to issue regulations to prevent deception 

of the consumer, to provide the 

consumer with ‘‘adequate information’’ 

as to the identity and quality of the 

product, to prohibit false or misleading 

statements, and to provide information 

as to the alcohol content of the product. 

Consistent with this authority, the 

proposed rule is intended to provide 

consumers with more information about 

the alcohol content, identity, and 

quality of alcohol beverages, including 

per-serving information about alcohol 

content, calories, and nutrient content. 

This information will in turn enable 

consumers to follow advice about 

moderate alcohol consumption, if they 

so choose, and will provide them with 

additional information about the calorie 

and nutrient content of the alcohol 

beverages they purchase and consume. 

Current regulations do not require the 

labeling of alcohol beverages with 

calorie, carbohydrate, fat, and protein 

content, and some alcohol beverages are 

not even required to be labeled with 

alcohol content. Offering this basic 

information to consumers at the point of 

purchase, on the labels, will provide 

them with information to make more 

informed alcohol beverage choices. 

Providing this information in a 

consistent format on alcohol beverage 

containers will also help consumers 

understand the information and prevent 

inconsistent presentations that might be 

confusing. 

Furthermore, the proposal to utilize 

TTB’s authority under the IRC to issue 

regulations requiring alcohol content 

statements on all wines and beer would 

serve an important revenue protection 

purpose. TTB provided a more detailed 

discussion of the benefits associated 

with mandatory alcohol content labeling 

in the preamble of Notice No. 73 (72 FR 

41860), and TTB notes that the new 

requirement would primarily affect malt 

beverage and table wine labels that do 

not already include numerical 

statements of alcohol content. 

C. Costs 

In the comments to Notice Nos. 73 

and 232, manufacturers, importers, and 

bottlers were primarily concerned with 

the costs associated with three main 

categories: (1) New labeling equipment 

costs; (2) costs associated with label 

redesign, printing, and administrative 

costs; and (3) laboratory analysis/testing 

costs. As explained below, TTB does not 

believe that the proposed rule, if 

adopted, would impose new labeling 

equipment costs. The second category 

(label redesign, printing, and 

administrative costs) is estimated on a 

per-UPC (Universal Product Code) basis 

and is dependent on the length of the 

compliance period. The third category, 

laboratory analysis costs, could impact 

both initial costs and recurring annual 

costs. According to the FDA Labeling 

Cost Model, the initial laboratory 

analysis costs are affected by the 

percentage of labeling changes that 


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35As previously noted, if TTB implements other 

new labeling requirements at the same time as the 

Alcohol Facts labeling requirements, these changes 

could be coordinated with use of a single 

compliance date. 

36Because TTB does not have data to quantify the 

number of beer products reflected in the Nielsen 

data that would not fall under the FAA Act’s 

definition of a ‘‘malt beverage,’’ TTB is not 

excluding any beer from this estimate. TTB is 

excluding wines under 7 percent by alcohol, to the 

extent such data is available. 

37See, e.g., statement by the Beer Institute that 

more than 95 percent of the beer volume sold by 

Anheuser-Busch, Molson Coors Beverage Company, 

Constellation Brands Beer Division, HEINEKEN 

USA, and FIFCO USA now voluntarily provides 

nutritional information. Available at https://

www.beerinstitute.org/press-releases/new-reportshows-beer-leads-all-alcohol-categories-inproviding-nutritional-information-to-consumers/. 

38As previously noted, there is a difference 

between the serving sizes authorized for statements 

of average analysis under TTB Ruling 2004–1 and 

the serving sizes authorized for Serving Facts 

statements under TTB Ruling 2013–2. This 

proposed rule would adopt the serving sizes set 

forth in TTB Ruling 2013–2. 

39TTB Ruling 2013–2 permits alcohol content as 

a percentage of alcohol by volume, as well as 

alcohol content on a per-serving basis, to appear as 

part of a Serving Facts statement. However, many 

industry members choose to include the alcohol 

content, as a percentage of alcohol by volume, 

elsewhere on the label rather than including it as 

part of an optional Serving Facts statement. 

cannot be coordinated with previously 

scheduled label changes. Separate and 

apart from the costs set forth in the 

model, TTB is also providing an 

estimate of laboratory analysis costs that 

may recur on an annual basis after the 

end of the compliance period. 

1. New Labeling Equipment Costs 

In Notice No. 73, TTB proposed a 

mandatory ‘‘Serving Facts’’ panel, with 

a linear display option for small 

containers. TTB solicited comments on 

whether a linear display option should 

be allowed for all containers 

irrespective of size. TTB also sought 

comments on whether allowing the 

linear display on all containers would 

reduce costs associated with compliance 

while providing consumers with 

adequate information about the 

products. 

TTB received many comments from 

industry members and associations in 

favor of the linear display option. These 

commenters supported the use of this 

option for all containers, regardless of 

size. Some commenters assumed that a 

panel requirement would force industry 

members to use a back label and noted 

that not all bottlers have the necessary 

equipment to add a back label to their 

products. These commenters suggested 

that compliance with a panel 

requirement could mean that the bottler 

would have to purchase a new labeling 

machine, which would impose a 

significant burden on small producers 

and bottlers. The commenters indicated 

that if TTB were to permit a linear 

display, rather than require a panel 

display, the need for additional labeling 

equipment would be eliminated. 

This proposed rule allows the 

mandatory Alcohol Facts information to 

appear either in a panel or in a linear 

display, regardless of the size of the 

container. Therefore, TTB has no reason 

to believe that the proposed rule would 

require industry members to purchase 

new labeling equipment to comply with 

its labeling requirements. TTB is 

inviting comments on this conclusion. 

2. Costs Associated With Label 

Redesign, Printing, and Administrative 

Costs 

To estimate the costs associated with 

label redesign, printing, and 

administrative costs, TTB utilized the 

2014 FDA Labeling Cost Model, adding 

its own data inputs and in some cases 

making assumptions about the alcohol 

beverage industry. 

a. FDA Labeling Cost Model 

The FDA Labeling Cost Model 

estimates labeling costs for a broad 

range of FDA-regulated consumer 

products using current data. To utilize 

the model, the user specifies: 

• the categories of products affected; 

• the nature of the labeling change; 

• the length of the compliance period; 

and 

• additional inputs as specified. 

Based on the user specifications, 

additional collected data, and FDAprovided data, the model generates an 

estimate of costs per UPC for the 

labeling change, total costs per product 

type, and an aggregate cost across all 

affected products. The model quantifies 

uncertainty or variability with high and 

low estimates constructed in a way that 

facilitates interpretation as bounds on 

90 percent probability ranges. Because it 

is anticipated that labeling regulations 

would affect numerous products at the 

same time, the model estimates assume 

that manufacturers are implementing 

changes simultaneously across multiple 

products.35

i. Factors That Affect the Results of the 

FDA Labeling Cost Model 

The following three factors affect the 

results of the FDA Labeling Cost Model: 

• Whether the type of contemplated 

labeling change is ‘‘minor,’’ ‘‘major,’’ or 

‘‘extensive;’’ 

• Data on the number of UPCs and 

total units that would be affected by the 

labeling change, including whether the 

products are ‘‘branded’’ or ‘‘private 

label’’; and 

• The length of time the regulated 

industry will have to comply with the 

change. 

aa. Types of labeling changes: The 

model allows for the three different 

types of labeling changes. Section 2.3 

(page 2–9) of the model explains ‘‘[t]he 

part of the label that is affected 

determines the number of plates (colors) 

that must be changed and thus the 

complexity of making a change.’’ The 

three types of labeling changes are: 

• Minor change—only one color is 

affected and the label does not need to 

be redesigned. Examples of this type of 

change include changing an ingredient 

list or adding a toll-free number. 

• Major change—requires multiple 

color changes and label redesign. An 

example of a major change is adding a 

facts panel or modifying the front of a 

package. 

• Extensive change—a major format 

change requiring a change to the 

product packaging to accommodate 

labeling information. An example of an 

extensive change is adding a peel-back 

label or otherwise increasing the 

package surface area. 

For purposes of this analysis, TTB is 

assuming that the proposed rule will 

require a ‘‘major change’’ for all alcohol 

beverage containers currently in the 

marketplace that are subject to the 

labeling requirements of the FAA Act, 

i.e., that fall under the definition of a 

wine, distilled spirit, or malt beverage 

under 27 U.S.C. 211 and that are sold 

or otherwise introduced into interstate 

commerce.36 TTB invites comments on 

whether these assumptions are valid. 

Finally, TTB notes that many alcohol 

beverages are already labeled with a 

‘‘Serving Facts’’ statement or a 

statement of average analysis. As 

discussed in section VI.A, this category 

includes a significant number of malt 

beverage products.37 For those products 

already labeled with a Serving Facts 

statement or statement of average 

analysis, it is arguable that any changes 

required by the proposed rule (changing 

the title of the statement, complying 

with the proposed formatting rules, and 

in some cases changing the appropriate 

serving size of the product) would be 

minor.38 However, as noted above, TTB 

is assuming, for purposes of this 

analysis, that all covered labels will be 

required to undergo a major change. 

Under the proposed rule, many labels 

with Serving Facts statements would 

also have to be changed to place the 

alcohol content statement (as a 

percentage of alcohol by volume) and 

the statement of fluid ounces of pure 

ethyl alcohol per serving in the new 

statement.39 TTB invites comments on 

this issue, and welcomes any available 


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40Based in part on data reported by NielsenIQ 

through its MarketTrack Service for the Alcohol 

Beverage Category for the period from September 9, 

2021, through September 10, 2022, for the Total US 

all outlets combined, liquor, and convenience stores 

market. Copyright © 2022 Nielsen Consumer LLC. 41TTB emphasizes that the analyses, calculations 

and conclusions in this document may have been 

informed in part by the NielsenIQ RMS data 

through NielsenIQ’s Retail Measurement Service 

(RMS) for the beverage alcohol product categories 

for the reported time period for Total US expanded 

all outlets combined, liquor, and convenience 

stores. However, any such analyses, calculations 

and conclusions are those of TTB and do not reflect 

the views of NielsenIQ. NielsenIQ is not responsible 

for, had no role in, and was not involved in 

analyzing and preparing the results reported herein, 

or in developing, reviewing or confirming the 

research approaches used in connection with this 

document. 

42NielsenIQ’s xAOC market includes retailers in 

its Food, Drug, Mass, Walmart, Club, Dollar, and 

Military channels. Nielsen defines those channels 

as follows: 

—Food is inclusive of all grocery stores with 

greater than $2MM in annual ACV, including 

smaller chains and independents, and large players 

such as Whole Foods. 

—Drug is inclusive of all chains and 

independents with greater than $1MM in annual 

ACV. 

—Select Mass includes Target, K-Mart, and 

ShopKo. 

—Walmart includes Walmart Division 1 + 

Supercenter’s + Neighborhood Markets. 

—Select Club is inclusive of Sam’s Club and BJ’s. 

Costco does not participate in market measurement 

with any data provider. 

—Select Dollar is inclusive of Dollar General, 

Family Dollar, and Fred’s Dollar. 

—Military is inclusive of military commissary 

stores. 

43Nielsen states that its Convenience channel 

includes ‘‘major chains as census cooperators, and 

is projected to represent all chains and 

independents.’’ 

44While the Nielsen data separated out ‘‘wine’’ 

based on whether the alcohol content was at least 

7 percent, it separated out ‘‘cider’’ products based 

on whether the alcohol content was over 6 percent 

alcohol by volume or 6 percent and under. As 

previously noted, the definition of wine under the 

FAA Act (but not the IRC) covers only wine that 

contains at least 7 percent alcohol by volume. Thus, 

TTB excluded wines with an alcohol content of 

under 7 percent and excluded ciders with an 

alcohol content of 6 percent and under. This meant 

that ciders were included if they contained over 6 

percent alcohol by volume. TTB recognizes that this 

number is overly inclusive, because it includes 

some wines with an alcohol content of over 6 but 

under 7 percent alcohol by volume, even though 

those wines are not subject to the labeling 

requirements of the FAA Act. 

45As previously noted, the FAA Act’s definition 

of ‘‘malt beverages’’ does not include beer made 

without both malted barley and hops. Thus, for 

example, while Nielsen included ‘‘cider’’ products 

in ‘‘Total Beer/FMB/Cider’’ category, TTB moved 

the cider products to the ‘‘wine’’ category instead, 

as cider products (i.e., products predominantly 

derived from the fermentation of apples) would be 

classified as wines under TTB regulations 

implementing both the IRC and the FAA Act. While 

it is possible that some of these products are in fact 

beer or malt beverages, TTB regulations do not 

provide for the labeling of malt beverages as 

‘‘cider.’’ Similarly, NielsenIQ also has a subcategory 

of beer entitled ‘‘hard seltzer.’’ While some of these 

products may not be malt beverages under the FAA 

Act, some hard seltzer products are in fact made 

with both malted barley and hops, and are thus 

classified as malt beverages within the meaning of 

the FAA Act. Because TTB did not have a basis to 

distinguish those hard seltzers that are ‘‘malt 

beverages’’ under the FAA Act from those that are 

not, the entire hard seltzer subcategory is included 

in the overall category of malt beverages. TTB notes 

that this approach may overstate the number of malt 

beverages (within the meaning of the FAA Act) in 

the marketplace. 

46For purposes of this analysis, TTB used the 

Nielsen ‘‘brand extensions’’ as a proxy for formulas. 

data on how many industry members 

are currently including calorie and 

nutrient content statements on alcohol 

beverage labels. 

bb. Data on the number of UPCs and 

total units that would be affected by the 

labeling change: Based on the FDA 

Labeling Cost Model, the administrative, 

redesign, and printing costs associated 

with making a labeling change are on a 

per-UPC basis rather than a formulation 

basis. Each individual product may 

have several UPCs associated with 

different sizes or types of packaging. For 

example, a malt beverage product with 

the same formulation may have several 

UPCs associated with that one product 

because it is sold in a multitude of 

package combinations (such as 

individual 12 fl oz and 24 fl oz bottles; 

or a 6-pack and a 12-pack of 12 fl oz 

cans), each of which has a separate UPC. 

To determine the number of alcohol 

beverage UPCs in the marketplace, TTB 

contracted with NielsenIQ 40 to obtain a 

report, which consists of data for the 

period from September 9, 2021, through 

September 10, 2022,41 for the following 

markets: Total U.S. all outlets 

combined,42 liquor, and convenience 

stores.43 At TTB’s request, Nielsen 

reported the following data: 

• Overall number of UPCs for beer, 

wine, and spirits; 

• Overall number of brand extensions 

for beer, wine, and spirits; 

• Number of private labels for beer, 

wine, and spirits; 

• Number of units sold for beer, wine, 

and spirits for cans, bottles, and other 

packaging; 

• Total dollars sold for beer, wine, 

and spirits; 

• Overall number of UPCs for wine 

with less than 7 percent ABV; and 

• Overall number of UPCs for malt 

beverage/beer in the flavored malt 

beverage category (broken down, as 

appropriate, by subcategories such as 

hard seltzer). 

TTB made some changes to the 

NielsenIQ categorization of wine,44 and 

beer/malt beverages 45 based on whether 

the products fall within the definitions 

of those terms set forth in the FAA Act, 

27 U.S.C. 211. 

Based on the data that Nielsen 

provided (including the changes to the 

data noted above), TTB estimates that 

industry members would have to 

modify labels for approximately 130,410 

different alcohol beverage product UPCs 

to comply with the proposed Alcohol 

Facts disclosure. In Table 1, TTB has 

broken down this estimate into the total 

UPCs, brand extensions,46 and total 

units for wines, distilled spirits, and 

malt beverages/beer. TTB invites 

comments on whether these estimates 

are valid. 

TABLE 1—NUMBER OF UPCS, BRAND EXTENSIONS, AND TOTAL UNITS

UPCs Brand 

extensions Total units 

Wines ..................................................................................................................................... 64,509 20,963 1,690,698,919 

Distilled Spirits ....................................................................................................................... 32,775 16,447 1,741,901,217 

Malt Beverages/Beer ............................................................................................................. 33,126 22,364 5,823,640,369 

Total ................................................................................................................................ 130,410 59,774 9,256,240,505 


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47See, e.g., Catherine Douglas Moran, ‘‘Untapped: 

How grocers are growing their private label alcohol 

assortment,’’ Grocery Dive, available at 

www.grocerydive.com/news/untapped-how-grocersare-growing-their-private-label-alcohol-assortment/ 

592081/; and Hannah Wallace, ‘‘Private Label 

Wines: A Peek Behind the Label,’’ SevenFifty Daily, 

available at https://daily.sevenfifty.com/privatelabel-wines-a-peek-behind-the-label/. 

48For example, TTB notes that under data from 

the North American Industry Classification System 

(NAICS), as adjusted for inflation, the category of 

brewers, wineries, and distillers that have fewer 

than 20 employees account for just under 10 

percent of the annual revenues of those businesses. 

See Section XI.E.2. For wineries, businesses with 

fewer than 20 employees account for 11.7 percent 

of the annual revenues; for brewers, the figure is 9.2 

percent, and for distillers, the figure is 7.3 percent. 

49This data point is limited to the products that 

TTB selected from the FDA Labeling Cost Model to 

use as analogs for the relevant alcohol products and 

does not necessarily apply to all food and drink 

products. 

50TTB notes that even if the alcohol beverage 

industry differs from the food industry with regard 

to the frequency with which label changes are made 

for private labels, as discussed previously, the 

private label category is a useful proxy for the 

percentage of labels that may not be changed as 

frequently as other labels are. 

cc. Private label products: Privatelabel alcohol beverages are traditionally 

brands created for a company (often a 

retailer or restaurant), which sell 

exclusively via one sales channel. At 

TTB’s request, NielsenIQ provided data 

on the number of private labels in the 

marketplace, but noted that its 

methodology meant that individual 

UPCs for private labels would be 

masked and displayed as a ‘‘pseudo 

UPC.’’ Nielsen’s data reflected that 

private label UPCs made up less than 

one percent of each category (wine, 

distilled spirits, and malt beverages). 

However, based on Nielsen’s 

explanation of its methodology, as well 

as the publicly available data on the 

number of private labels in the alcohol 

beverage market, TTB views the number 

of private labels reported in the data as 

being underinclusive.47

The FDA Labeling Cost Model treats 

‘‘private labels’’ differently from 

branded labels and assumes that 

labeling changes for private labels 

require additional time for coordination 

with regulatory changes. TTB believes 

that the model’s treatment of private 

labels makes the private label category 

a useful proxy for the percentage of 

UPCs that might require additional time 

for coordinating regulatory labeling 

changes with regularly scheduled 

labeling changes, due to the size of the 

company. 

After reviewing the available data on 

private labels, as well as the available 

data on the size of businesses in the 

wine, distilled spirits, and malt 

beverage industries, TTB is estimating 

that 10 percent of the alcohol beverage 

products requiring labeling changes as a 

result of this proposed rule may require 

additional time to coordinate regulatory 

labeling changes with labeling changes 

made in the ordinary course of business, 

in the same way that ‘‘private label’’ 

products require additional time under 

the FDA Labeling Cost Model. For the 

sole purpose of estimating costs under 

different compliance periods, TTB is 

treating those products as affecting the 

costs in a manner that is functionally 

equivalent to the role that private labels 

play in the FDA Labeling Cost Model.48

Accordingly, TTB estimates that 

approximately 13,041 UPCs (10 percent 

of the total 130,410 UPCs) fall into the 

private label category for the purposes 

of the model. 

dd. Length of compliance period: The 

FDA Labeling Cost Model assumes that 

the costs of a new labeling requirement 

fall significantly as the time allowed for 

compliance increases because affected 

industry members can better coordinate 

new labeling requirements with 

scheduled labeling changes. Section 3 of 

the model explains that product 

manufacturers ‘‘often update their 

labeling information for marketing 

purposes, because of a change in 

packaging, or for other reasons,’’ and 

that ‘‘when manufacturers update labels 

for nonregulatory reasons, they can 

often incorporate a change required by 

a regulation at minimal additional 

costs.’’ Thus, the model accounts for 

these nonregulatory labeling changes 

when estimating the costs of regulatory 

labeling changes to avoid overstating the 

costs of compliance. 

The model further explains that ‘‘[i]t 

is likely that a regulation affecting 

labeling will cause affected firms to 

incur some level of costs, regardless of 

how well coordinated the regulatory 

labeling change is with nonregulatory 

labeling changes.’’ See FDA Labeling 

Cost Model Section 3.1. The model, 

therefore, assumes that a regulation 

affecting labeling will cause affected 

entities to incur some costs even when 

a regulatory labeling change is 

coordinated with nonregulatory labeling 

changes, and it accounts for the 

incremental costs associated with the 

regulation, ‘‘such as staff time for 

reviewing the regulatory requirements, 

determining options for complying with 

the regulatory requirements, and 

coordinating the required change with a 

scheduled change.’’ Id. 

The FDA Labeling Cost Model 

explains that most food manufacturers 

that provided estimates to FDA 

indicated that some 20–50 percent of 

products are relabeled in any given year, 

indicating a 2–5 year cycle for relabeling 

all products. Furthermore, interview 

respondents for the FDA Labeling Cost 

Model noted that private label products 

were less likely to be relabeled in any 

given year. (See Section 3.2.1, page 3– 

7). 

TTB does not have specific data on 

the frequency of scheduled label 

changes for the alcohol beverage 

industry but believes it would be similar 

in many respects to the FDA-regulated 

food industry. Table 3–1 of the FDA 

Labeling Cost Model presents the FDA’s 

assumptions about the proportion of 

UPCs that could be changed together 

with a scheduled label change, based on 

the length of the compliance period. 

The model assumes that 100 percent of 

brand name products can coordinate a 

regulatory label change with a regularly 

scheduled label change within two 

years.49

Private label products, however, do 

not change their labels as often. 

Accordingly, a longer compliance 

period is necessary to coordinate a 

regulatory change with a regularly 

scheduled change for all private label 

products. For private label products, the 

percentage of changes that can be 

coordinated with a regularly scheduled 

change is only 26 percent at 2 years (as 

compared to 100 percent for branded 

products), and 57 percent at 3 years. A 

42-month compliance period is required 

to coordinate 100 percent of changes to 

private label products with regularly 

scheduled label changes.50

TTB applied the FDA’s assumptions 

about the proportion of UPCs that could 

be changed together with a scheduled 

label change, based on the length of the 

compliance period, to the 

approximately 130,410 different alcohol 

beverage product UPCs. Table 2 shows 

the number of coordinated changes and 

uncoordinated changes to the alcohol 

beverage UPCs for a compliance period 

of 2, 3, 3.5, and 5 years, broken down 

by wines, distilled spirits, and malt 

beverages/beer. Because the FDA model 

assumes that 100 percent of branded 

product label changes can be 

coordinated within a 2-year compliance 

period, the number of uncoordinated 

changes is solely driven by private 

labels. With a 3.5-year compliance 

period or longer, the model assumes 

that all label changes, whether branded 

or private label, can be coordinated with 

a regularly-scheduled change, and that, 

therefore, there are no uncoordinated 

changes. 


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51These costs may not be a perfect proxy for 

those that would be incurred in the printing of 

alcohol beverage labels, but it was the best proxy 

available to TTB. 

52Consumer Price Index (January 2023), U.S. 

Bureau of Labor Statistics, available at https://

www.bls.gov/cpi/. 

53See discussion in Section IX.C.2.a.i.cc. 

TABLE 2—NUMBER OF UNCOORDINATED/COORDINATED CHANGES BY UPC 

Wines Distilled 

spirits 

Malt 

beverages 

24 months: 

Uncoordinated ...................................................................................................................... 4,774 2,425 2,451 

Coordinated .......................................................................................................................... 59,735 30,350 30,675 

36 months: 

Uncoordinated ...................................................................................................................... 2,774 1,409 1,424 

Coordinated .......................................................................................................................... 61,735 31,366 31,702 

42 months: 

Uncoordinated ...................................................................................................................... 0 0 0 

Coordinated .......................................................................................................................... 64,509 32,775 33,126 

60 months: 

Uncoordinated ...................................................................................................................... 0 0 0 

Coordinated .......................................................................................................................... 64,509 32,775 33,126 

ii. Qualifications to TTB’s Application 

of Model to Alcohol Beverages 

As previously noted, the data 

available to TTB did not always match 

up with the categories reflected in the 

FDA Labeling Cost Model. Accordingly, 

TTB had to make some assumptions in 

applying the model to its data. TTB 

invites comments on the validity of 

those assumptions and welcomes data 

on any of these issues. 

• The FDA Labeling Cost Model does 

not include alcohol beverage product 

categories. TTB, therefore, had to use 

proxy categories for wine, spirits, and 

malt beverages. The categories in the 

model reflect different packaging types, 

material costs, and inventory costs that 

apply to that category. The variability in 

costs between different food categories 

in the model is primarily driven by the 

print labeling costs (material) and 

inventory-related costs (discarding of 

labels or packages) for different 

packaging and label types. Accordingly, 

TTB chose food categories as proxies for 

the three alcohol beverage categories 

based on similar packaging types and 

labels. Nielsen provided estimates of the 

ratio of packaging types (e.g., cans, 

bottles) for each alcohol beverage 

commodity. TTB chose the model 

category ‘‘non-alcoholic wine’’ as a 

proxy for all wine and spirits because 

the costs for the ‘‘non-alcoholic wine’’ 

category are associated with ‘‘paper 

labels,’’ such as those attached to glass 

bottles, and the Nielsen data showed 

that the vast majority of wine and spirits 

are packaged in bottles. The Nielsen 

data showed that approximately 70 

percent of malt beverages are packaged 

in aluminum cans and the remaining 30 

percent are primarily in glass bottles. 

TTB, therefore, chose the food category 

of ‘‘coffee- liquid,’’ which reflects costs 

associated with packaging in aluminum 

cans, as a proxy for 70 percent of the 

malt beverages and used the ‘‘nonalcoholic wine’’ category as a proxy for 

malt beverages in glass bottles.51

• TTB applied FDA Labeling Cost 

Model input costs for labor, materials, 

analytical costs, marketing, inventory, 

and recordkeeping, based on its 

conclusion that this model is a 

reasonable proxy given the similarities 

in packaging foods and alcohol 

beverages. 

• The FDA Labeling Cost Model was 

developed based on 2014 wage rates and 

allows for adjustments for inflation. 

Accordingly, TTB used Bureau of Labor 

Statistics data to apply an inflation 

adjustment of 25.5 percent, based on the 

estimated aggregate Consumer Price 

Index inflation rate between the start of 

2014 and January 2023.52

• TTB input data that is specific to 

alcohol beverages. However, the data 

also reflects some working assumptions: 

Æ For the reasons explained earlier in 

this section, TTB assumed that the share 

of labels where changes could not easily 

be coordinated with regulatory changes 

was 10 percent. In the FDA Labeling 

Cost Model, these calculations are based 

on the number of ‘‘private labels.’’ 

However, for the alcohol beverage 

category, TTB estimated that whether an 

alcohol beverage product is a ‘‘private 

label’’ product or not, the 10 percent 

figure is a reasonable proxy for those 

businesses that make regularly 

scheduled labeling changes on a less 

frequent basis.53 TTB invites comments 

on this assumption. TTB also notes that 

with a proposed 5-year compliance 

period, the exact percentage of private 

label products, or private label 

equivalents, is not as important, because 

the model estimates that 100 percent of 

private label changes will be 

‘‘coordinated’’ labeling changes as of 42 

months. 

Æ For purposes of calculating the 

costs of analytical testing (i.e., 

laboratory analysis), TTB used Nielsenprovided data on the number of ‘‘brand 

extensions’’ as a proxy for the number 

of formulations. 

Æ The data in question does not cover 

the entire market; however, TTB has 

tentatively concluded that the data 

likely included unique products that 

represent close to 100 percent of all the 

UPCs that are available throughout the 

United States. TTB seeks comments on 

the validity of this conclusion. 

b. Costs of Proposed Labeling Changes 

i. Cost per UPC 

Using the model with the described 

data inputs and qualifications, the mean 

labeling cost per UPC for coordinated 

labeling changes (changes that can be 

coordinated with scheduled changes) is 

unaffected by length of the compliance 

period. Regardless of whether the 

compliance period is 2 years, 5 years, or 

somewhere in between, the costs per 

UPC for a coordinated labeling change 

is $1,636.52 for wines, distilled spirits, 

and malt beverages. 

For changes that cannot be 

coordinated, the mean labeling cost per 

UPC varies based on the compliance 

period, as is illustrated in Table 3. The 

cost per UPC for uncoordinated changes 

(changes that cannot be coordinated 

with scheduled changes) is driven 

upward by both greater-per-unit labor, 

material, and recordkeeping costs, and 

the presence of inventory and analytical 

costs, which are not applicable to 

coordinated labeling changes. 


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54 It should be noted that under the model, there 

are no uncoordinated labeling changes for 

compliance periods of at least 42 months. See Table 

2. 

55The figures in Table 4 were calculated using 

the FDA Labeling Cost Model, which only includes 

initial costs. The model does not calculate any 

recurring costs that may accrue following the initial 

compliance period. 

56The overall cost is the same for the 42-month 

and 60-month compliance periods because the FDA 

Model assumes that at 42 months all labeling 

changes will be coordinated. 

TABLE 3—MEAN COST PER UPC FOR UNCOORDINATED CHANGE 54

Wines Distilled spirits Malt beverages 

24 months .................................................................................................................. $11,856.67 $12,992.46 $19,352.27 

36 months .................................................................................................................. 11,264.61 11,791.86 12,572.01 

42 months .................................................................................................................. 10,427.36 10,427.36 9,445.05 

60 months .................................................................................................................. 10,427.36 10,427.36 9,445.05 

ii. Initial Cost of Compliance 

Table 4 sets out the overall initial cost 

of compliance with the proposed 

regulation based on four different 

compliance periods (2 years, 3 years, 42 

months and 5 years), applying a 25.5 

percent inflation rate as of January 

2023.55 TTB estimates the one-time total 

relabeling costs associated with this 

proposed rule to be approximately $333 

million assuming a compliance date of 

2 years (or approximately $167 million 

per year). If the compliance date is 

extended to 3 years, the total costs 

would be approximately $270 million 

(or $90 million per year); for 3.5 years, 

the total costs would be approximately 

$214 million (or $61 million per year), 

and if the compliance date is extended 

to 5 years, the total costs would be 

approximately $214 million (or $43 

million per year). 

TABLE 4—TOTAL COST BASED ON LABELING COMPLIANCE PERIOD

Wine 

(million) 

Distilled 

spirits 

(million) 

Malt 

beverages 

(million) 

Total 

(million) 

Average 

annual cost 

(million) 

24 months ............................................................................ $154 $81 $98 $333 $167 

36 months ............................................................................ 132 68 70 270 90 

42 months ............................................................................ 106 54 54 214 61 

60 months ............................................................................ 106 54 54 214 43 

Table 5 sets out the same overall 

estimated cost of compliance based on 

the four different compliance periods 

but with a 2 percent discount rate. TTB 

estimates the one-time total relabeling 

costs associated with this proposed rule 

at a 2 percent discount rate to be 

approximately $323.4 million assuming 

a compliance date of 2 years (or 

approximately $161.7 million per year). 

If the compliance date is extended to 3 

years, the estimated total costs with a 2 

percent discount rate would be 

approximately $259.5 million (or $86.5 

million per year); for 3.5 years, the 

estimated total costs with a 2 percent 

discount rate would be approximately 

$204.3 million (or $58.4 million per 

year), and if the compliance date is 

extended to 5 years, the estimated total 

costs with a 2 percent discount rate 

would be approximately $201.2 million 

(or $40.2 million per year). 

TABLE 5—TOTAL COSTS WITH 2 PERCENT DISCOUNT RATE

Undiscounted 

(million) 

2% Discount 

rate 

(million) 

Undiscounted 

average 

annual cost 

(million) 

2% Discount 

average 

annual cost 

(million) 

24 months ........................................................................................................ $333 $323.4 $167 $161.7 

36 months ........................................................................................................ 270 259.5 90 86.5 

42 months ........................................................................................................ 214 204.3 61 58.4 

60 months ........................................................................................................ 214 201.2 43 40.2 

The overall cost of compliance goes 

down as the compliance period gets 

longer due to the higher number of 

coordinated changes in the longer 

compliance periods.56 Costs for shorter 

compliance periods are far greater due 

to the greater number of uncoordinated 

changes, which drive up per-unit labor 

and recordkeeping costs and create 

inventory and analytical costs that do 

not apply to coordinated labeling 

changes. 

As previously noted, TTB estimates 

that approximately 13,041 UPCs (10 

percent of the total 130,410 UPCs) fall 

into the category of products for which 

the label is less likely to be modified on 

a regular basis, thus making them 

roughly equivalent to FDA’s private 

label category. While the model assumes 

that 100 percent of brand labels will be 

able to coordinate regulatory changes 

with regularly scheduled labeling 

changes with a compliance period of at 

least 2 years, this is not true of private 

labels until the compliance period 

reaches 42 months. Thus, the difference 

in the total labeling costs under the FDA 

Labeling Cost Model between a 2-year, 

a 3-year, a 42-month, and a 5-year 

compliance period is driven by 

assumptions about private labels. 

c. Proposed Compliance Period 

Based on its analysis of the cost data 

described in this section, TTB proposes 

to adopt a 5-year implementation 


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57While this proposal will allow all industry 

members five years to implement required changes, 

TTB believes that many industry members, 

particularly large companies, are likely to start 

voluntary compliance with any final rule in 

advance of the compliance date given that many 

industry members already include calorie and 

nutrient statements on their labels. 

58See FDA final rule, ‘‘Food Labeling; Nutrition 

Labeling of Standard Menu Items in Restaurants 

and Similar Retail Food Establishments,’’ which 

includes alcohol beverages, available at https://

www.federalregister.gov/documents/2014/12/01/ 

2014-27833/food-labeling-nutrition-labeling-ofstandard-menu-items-in-restaurants-and-similarretail-food. 

59Beer Institute statement, supra note 8. 

60As of May 9, 2024, DISCUS Director Members 

included Bacardi, Brown-Forman, Constellation 

Brands, and Remy Cointreau among others. DISCUS 

lists the Director Members on its website at https:// 

www.distilledspirits.org/director-members/. 

61This estimated laboratory analysis cost 

includes the adjustments for inflation discussed 

above. 

62These estimates usually covered testing that 

would provide results for alcohol content, calories, 

carbohydrates, and protein. The laboratories 

generally advised that fat was not expected to be 

found in alcohol beverages, and that analytical 

testing for fat content would be an extra cost. 

63TTB notes that while the proposed rule would 

require disclosure of the calorie content and three 

macronutrients (carbohydrates, fat, and protein), 

FDA Nutrition Facts labels also require the 

disclosure of sodium, fiber, and certain vitamins 

and minerals. 

period. TTB believes that the proposed 

compliance period will reduce the costs 

and burdens associated with the 

proposed new labeling requirements. 

According to the FDA Labeling Cost 

Model, 100 percent of industry members 

will be able to coordinate their labeling 

changes as a result of the proposed 

regulatory requirements with their 

scheduled labeling changes within the 

proposed 5-year implementation period. 

This will allow affected industry 

members to use up existing label stocks 

and coordinate the redesign of their 

labels with an already planned label 

redesign.57

TTB is further proposing to reduce the 

costs associated with new labeling 

information by permitting linear 

displays and not requiring industry 

members to submit new applications for 

label approval when the only change 

being made to the label is the inclusion 

of a new Alcohol Facts statement, or the 

replacement of an already approved 

Serving Facts statement or statement of 

average analysis, with a new Alcohol 

Facts statement. 

TTB invites comments on this data, 

the proposed compliance period, and 

any other options available to reduce 

regulatory burdens and economic costs 

while still providing the consumer with 

adequate information about the 

products in question. 

3. Recurring Analytical Testing Costs 

In response to Notice No. 73, many 

commenters raised the issue of the cost 

of conducting analytical testing of their 

products. Comments on Notice No. 232 

demonstrate that the costs of conducting 

analytical testing of products continue 

to be a concern for small producers. But 

the comments also showed that in the 

time since Notice No. 73 was published, 

many industry members have begun 

testing their products for purposes of 

listing calorie and nutrient information 

on labels and websites, or in some cases, 

so that restaurants may comply with the 

menu labeling regulations administered 

by FDA.58 The Beer Institute 

commented that, as of 2021, 95 percent 

of the malt beverages produced by 

Anheuser-Busch, Molson Coors, 

Constellation Brands, HEINEKEN USA, 

and FIFCO USA already include 

nutrient information,59 and DISCUS 

commented that by June 2024, all 

DISCUS Director Members 60 will 

provide per-serving alcohol and 

nutritional information on the labels of 

all spirits products they sell in the 

United States. 

The FDA Labeling Cost Model 

estimates a cost of $1,060 per product 

formulation for a laboratory analysis of 

non-alcoholic wines that includes two 

samples, as well as the cost of preparing 

and submitting samples to a 

laboratory.61 However, the model 

applies the cost for laboratory analysis 

only with regard to changes that cannot 

be coordinated with regularly scheduled 

labeling changes. 

TTB compared the FDA figures with 

quotations for calorie and nutrient 

testing for alcohol beverages on the 

publicly available websites of three 

randomly selected laboratories, and 

determined that the estimates, per 

sample, ranged from a low of $160 to a 

high of $435. Some testing laboratories 

charged different amounts depending on 

the type of alcohol beverage.62

TTB also received comments in 

response to Notice No. 232 that 

included data on testing costs. 

Commenters quoted testing costs 

ranging from $170-$800 per product. 

The range in testing costs seemed to be 

related to the number of nutrients the 

commenter assumed would need to be 

included in the test. One commenter 

stated that the testing necessary for all 

nutrients that appear in the FDA’s 

Nutrition Facts Label would cost $500, 

but that the test for calories, 

carbohydrates, protein, and fat (the 

nutrients proposed for Alcohol Facts 

panels) would cost only $170. 

For purposes of this analysis, TTB is 

including an estimate of the recurring 

costs of analytical testing for calorie and 

nutrient content for alcohol beverages. 

Using an estimate of approximately 

60,000 brand extensions, or different 

formulations, per year, with a cost of 

$1,060 for testing two samples of each 

formulation, the ongoing annualized 

cost of the proposed rule would be 

approximately $64 million. TTB invites 

comments on whether industry 

members would in fact plan to conduct 

analytical testing of their products if the 

proposed rule is adopted, and if so, how 

frequently such testing would occur. In 

particular, TTB seeks comments on 

whether the reasons outlined below 

might result in a lower cost for, and 

frequency of, testing: 

• Differences between TTB’s 

proposed rule and FDA’s nutrient 

labeling regulations. The FDA Nutrition 

Facts label includes many more 

nutrients than the proposed TTB 

Alcohol Facts label, which may impact 

the cost of testing.63

• The proposed rule allows industry 

members to rely on databases rather 

than analytical testing. The proposed 

rule would not require industry 

members to send each batch of a 

product to a laboratory for analysis prior 

to labeling the product; nor would it 

require any testing at all. Industry 

members may choose to rely on 

analytical testing, published databases, 

mathematical calculations based on 

alcohol content (for certain products), or 

an appropriate blend of these methods 

to accurately label their products. The 

frequency with which producers will 

conduct analytical testing on products 

will vary from product to product. It is 

up to the bottler or importer to 

accurately label the product; however, 

the proposed regulations do not 

prescribe a particular methodology. 

• Proposed tolerances facilitate the 

use of typical values charts and other 

methodologies to determine calorie and 

nutrient content. As previously noted, 

in 2020, TTB issued public guidance to 

broaden the tolerance levels for calorie 

statements on labels and in 

advertisements. See TTB Ruling 2020–1 

and TTB Procedure 2020–1. In this 

proposed rule, TTB has included this 

expanded tolerance level for calories, 

and is adopting an objective standard 

for the three nutrients required to be 

disclosed, allowing a tolerance of 20 

percent above or below the labeled 

amount. TTB believes that these 

proposed changes will facilitate the use 

of ‘‘typical values’’ charts and other 

methodologies to calculate the calories, 

carbohydrates, fat, and protein content 

of an alcohol beverage product. TTB is 

also proposing to expand the alcohol 

content tolerance for malt beverage 


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64See FDA Labeling Cost Model, Section 3.1.2 

‘‘Analytical Testing.’’ (‘‘To conduct analytical 

testing, a manufacturer will usually prepare a 

composite sample made up of several samples of 

the product. Based on information provided by the 

manufacturers we contacted, they usually test one 

composite sample but may test up to three samples. 

Many manufacturers already have some idea of the 

levels of the particular substance in their product 

from their routine quality control checks. In 

particular, some manufacturers told us they test 

products approximately every 2 years to verify 

initial test results. However, even if the 

manufacturer has data on a particular substance, if 

a regulation involves that substance, the 

manufacturer would generally retest to confirm 

their data.’’) 

65The FDA Model assumes that there are no 

analytical testing costs for coordinated labeling 

changes; therefore, the initial compliance cost of 

$201.2 million in 2023 dollars (or $40.2 million per 

year) does not include analytical testing because the 

model assumes there will be no need for analytical 

testing for coordinated labeling changes. If, instead, 

the initial compliance cost included the recurring 

cost of analytical testing, an additional $64 million 

would be added to those implementation costs, 

which, if prorated over 5 years, would amount to 

an additional $13 million per year during the 

implementation period, for a total cost of $53.2 

million per year. 

labeling statements. This means bottlers 

would be less likely to have to change 

labels due to minor variations in alcohol 

content among different batches. 

• Availability of calculations based 

on alcohol content. For many products, 

there will be no need to test at all. For 

example, a company producing an 80- 

proof vodka will know from standard 

databases what the calorie content of the 

product is. The product will not have 

any carbohydrate, fat, or protein 

content. Furthermore, the tolerances 

adopted by the proposed rule facilitate 

the use of non-analytical methods to 

determine calories and carbohydrates 

for many alcohol beverages after the 

alcohol content of the product is 

determined. 

• Industry members are already 

testing their products in the absence of 

a regulatory requirement. TTB seeks 

comments on the extent to which 

industry members are already 

conducting analytical testing in the 

absence of regulations that mandate this 

type of disclosure on labels. 

TTB tentatively concludes it is likely 

that a significant number of products 

will either not need to be tested on an 

annual basis or are already being tested. 

TTB is nonetheless including these 

products in the estimates, and believes 

it is reasonable to estimate costs based 

on the assumption that, on average, each 

company will conduct one analytical 

test per year, consisting of two samples, 

of each formulation.64 If a 5-year 

compliance period is adopted, TTB has 

estimated that the initial compliance 

costs of the proposed rule would 

amount to approximately $201.2 million 

in 2023 dollars (or $40.2 million per 

year). If TTB assumes that industry 

members will continue to send each 

product formulation for analytical 

testing each year, the ongoing 

annualized cost of the proposed rule 

would be approximately $64 million.65

TTB invites comments from the 

public and the industry with regard to 

this estimate. In particular, we are 

interested in receiving comments on 

how many industry members, 

particularly small businesses, would 

send their products for analytical testing 

on an annual basis as a result of the 

proposed rule, as well as the number 

that would have no need to do this 

because: 

• They already know the calorie and 

nutrient values of their products; 

• They would conduct analytical 

testing even in the absence of a 

regulatory requirement; 

• They feel comfortable relying upon 

databases for this information, or 

• The nature of their product is such 

that the relevant information can be 

accurately calculated based simply on 

the alcohol content of the product. 

X. Public Participation 

A. Comments Sought 

TTB requests comments from the 

public and all interested parties on the 

regulatory proposals contained in this 

document. TTB requests general 

comments from anyone interested in the 

regulatory proposals outlined in this 

document. TTB seeks comments on the 

proposed rule as well as other 

approaches also discussed in this 

document. TTB has posed specific 

questions on various issues throughout 

this preamble, and it seeks comments in 

response to those questions. In 

developing the final rule, TTB will 

carefully evaluate the proposed 

regulations in light of all comments and 

suggested alternative approaches, and it 

will adopt the most appropriate 

approach. Where TTB has specifically 

solicited comments on alternatives to 

proposed amendments, it may consider 

adopting such alternatives in lieu of the 

proposed amendments based on its 

review of the comments. 

TTB is particularly interested in 

comments that address whether the 

proposed revisions to the labeling 

regulations will provide the consumer 

with adequate information about the 

identity, quality, and alcohol content of 

the product. Where TTB proposes 

substantive changes, TTB seeks 

comments on the proposals for further 

appropriate changes. 

TTB also seeks comments on the 

impact that the proposed changes will 

have on industry members and any 

suggestions as to how to minimize any 

costs or regulatory burdens associated 

with the proposed regulations, 

including the following issues: 

1. Does the proposed compliance date 

suffice to limit the negative impact on 

small businesses and reduce overall 

costs of compliance while ensuring that 

consumers receive adequate information 

about the identity, quality, and alcohol 

content of the alcohol beverage products 

they are purchasing and consuming? 

2. Is there a shorter compliance period 

that would provide more benefits to 

consumers while still limiting costs and 

potential negative impacts on small 

businesses? Specifically, would a 2-, 

3-, or 3.5-year compliance period 

suffice? 

3. How many small businesses would 

be impacted by the proposed rule, and 

what would be the economic impact of 

the proposal on these small businesses? 

How, if at all, does the length of the 

compliance period affect the impact on 

small businesses? Please explain in 

detail and provide specific cost data. 

4. Are the tolerances for nutrient 

labeling sufficiently broad to facilitate 

reliance on typical value charts and 

databases but still specific enough to 

provide accurate information to 

consumers? How, if at all, would the use 

of typical value charts and databases 

reduce the costs of the proposed rule, 

particularly for small businesses? Please 

explain in detail and provide specific 

cost data. 

We welcome comments on all other 

issues presented in this notice of 

proposed rulemaking. 

B. Submitting Comments 

You may submit comments on this 

proposal as an individual or on behalf 

of a business or other organization via 

the Regulations.gov website or via 

postal mail, as described in the 

ADDRESSES section of this document. 

Your comment must reference Notice 

No. 237 and must be submitted or 

postmarked by the closing date shown 

in the DATES section of this document. 

You may upload or include attachments 

with your comment. You also may 

submit a comment requesting a public 

hearing on this proposal. The TTB 

Administrator reserves the right to 

determine whether to hold a public 

hearing. If TTB schedules a public 

hearing, it will publish a notice of the 

date, time, and place for the hearing in 

the Federal Register. 

C. Confidentiality and Disclosure of 

Comments 

All submitted comments and 

attachments are part of the rulemaking 


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66Further information on the specifics of TTB’s 

proposal and its authority to implement the 

proposal are in Section VII. 

67See Alcohol Facts and Statistics, available at 

http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/ 

AlcoholFacts&Stats/AlcoholFacts&Stats.htm. 

68See Data on Excessive Alcohol Use, available 

at https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/excessive-drinkingdata/index.html. 

69Alcohol Facts and Statistics, supra note 67. 

70Treatment for Alcohol Problems: Finding and 

Getting Help, available at https://

www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-andfact-sheets/treatment-alcohol-problems-findingand-getting-help. 

71NIAAA Spectrum: NIAAA Scientists Provide 

More Evidence that Binge Drinking May Indicate 

Vulnerability to Alcohol Use Disorder, available at 

https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/research/niaaaresearch-highlights/niaaa-spectrum-niaaascientists-provide-more-evidence-binge-drinkingmay-indicate-vulnerability. 

72Chapter 11, Part D, Scientific Report of the 2020 

Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee: Advisory 

Report to the Secretary of Agriculture and the 

Secretary of Health and Human Services, 

Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research 

Service, Washington, DC, available at https://

www.dietaryguidelines.gov/2020-advisorycommittee-report. 

record and are subject to public 

disclosure. Do not enclose any material 

in your comments that you consider 

confidential or that is inappropriate for 

disclosure. 

TTB will post, and you may view, 

copies of this document, its supporting 

materials, and any comments TTB 

receives about this proposal within the 

related Regulations.gov docket. In 

general, TTB will post comments as 

submitted, and it will not redact any 

identifying or contact information from 

the body of a comment or attachment. 

Please contact TTB’s Regulations and 

Rulings division by email using the web 

form available at https://www.ttb.gov/ 

contact-rrd, or by telephone at 202–453– 

2265, if you have any questions 

regarding comments on this proposal or 

to request copies of this document, its 

supporting materials, or the comments 

received in response. 

XI. Regulatory Analyses and Notices 

The impacts of this proposed rule 

have been examined in accordance with 

Executive Order 12866, as 

supplemented by Executive Order 

13563 and amended by Executive Order 

14094, and the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act (5 U.S.C. 601–612). 

A. Purpose of the Rule 

The overall purpose of the proposed 

rule is to provide consumers with more 

information about the identity, quality, 

and alcohol content of alcohol 

beverages. Since the effective date of the 

Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 

1990, nutrition labeling has been 

required for foods subject to the labeling 

regulations of the FDA (subject to 

certain exceptions), and the Department 

of Agriculture has similarly adopted 

regulations for foods subject to its 

labeling regulations. This leaves alcohol 

beverages subject to the labeling 

regulations of the FAA Act as the only 

type of packaged beverage category 

without any requirement for calorie or 

nutrient labeling. 

Current TTB policy is that claims 

about reduced calorie and carbohydrate 

levels are misleading in the absence of 

a more complete statement regarding the 

per-serving levels of calories, 

carbohydrates, protein, and fat. These 

statements may be presented in the form 

of a Serving Facts statement or a 

statement of average analysis, each of 

which has different serving sizes. TTB 

is inviting comments on whether the 

current lack of uniformity with regard to 

calorie and nutrient labeling is 

confusing to consumers, and whether 

consumers would benefit from readily 

accessible information in the form of an 

easily understood labeling statement in 

a consistent format on alcohol beverage 

containers. 

Accordingly, TTB proposes to require 

the disclosure of alcohol content 

expressed as a percentage of alcohol by 

volume on all alcohol beverage labels 

and to require the disclosure of calories, 

certain nutrients, and fluid ounces of 

pure ethyl alcohol per serving in an 

Alcohol Facts statement on all alcohol 

beverage labels subject to the FAA 

Act.66 TTB believes this proposal would 

provide consumers with the information 

they need to follow advice from the U.S. 

Government, public health 

organizations, and their own doctors 

about alcohol consumption, if they so 

choose. 

Additionally, TTB has determined 

that mandatory alcohol content 

statements on labels for all beer and 

wines subject to tax under the IRC will 

assist in protection of the revenue. 

B. Benefits 

TTB does not have data to quantify 

the monetary benefits of the proposed 

rule, but as stated previously, the 

overall purpose of the proposed rule is 

to provide consumers with more 

information about the identity, quality, 

and alcohol content of alcohol 

beverages. This information will in turn 

enable consumers to follow advice 

about moderate alcohol consumption 

and will provide them with additional 

information about the calorie and 

macronutrient content of alcohol 

beverages. Currently, alcohol beverage 

products are the only beverage products 

on the market that are not required to 

provide labeling information concerning 

calorie, carbohydrate, fat, and protein 

content. Additionally, most malt 

beverage products and some wines are 

not required to disclose the alcohol 

content on their labels. TTB believes 

offering this information to consumers 

on product labels at the point of 

purchase will provide consumers with 

adequate information to make more 

informed alcohol beverage choices. 

The health risks associated with 

alcohol consumption and alcohol abuse 

remain clear. According to Alcohol 

Facts and Statistics, a publication of the 

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and 

Alcoholism (NIAAA), an estimated 

178,000 people in the United States 

died from alcohol-related causes from 

2020–2021.67 The Centers for Disease 

Control estimates that excessive alcohol 

consumption costs $249 billion 

annually in the United States, 

approximately $807 per person 

annually, or $2.05 per drink sold. These 

costs are based on lost workplace 

productivity, healthcare expenses, law 

enforcement and criminal justice 

expenses, and losses from motor vehicle 

crashes.68

The 2023 National Survey on Drug 

Use and Health, conducted annually by 

the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 

Services Administration, states that 28.1 

million adults ages 18 and older had 

Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD).69

According to NIAAA, ‘‘[AUD] is a 

medical condition that doctors diagnose 

when a patient’s drinking causes 

distress or harm’’ and includes both 

alcohol abuse and alcohol 

dependence.70 Furthermore, ‘‘NIAAA 

defines binge drinking as a pattern of 

drinking that brings blood alcohol 

concentration (BAC) levels to 0.08g/dl. 

This typically occurs after 4 drinks for 

women and 5 drinks for men—in about 

2 hours.’’ 71

The Scientific Report of the 2020 

Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee 

states that ‘‘[b]inge drinking itself has 

increased, including among middle- and 

older-aged adults, as has mortality from 

fully alcohol-attributable causes of 

death, including alcoholic liver 

disease.’’ 72 The Scientific Report notes 

that excessive drinking accounted for 1 

in 10 deaths among working age adults, 

with each death representing an average 

of 30 years of potential life lost. The 

report states that approximately 20 

percent of people who begin drinking 

will develop AUD at some point during 

their lives. However, only a minority of 

people who drink excessively or who 

binge drink have an alcohol use 

disorder. As such, excessive drinking 

and alcohol-related problems are 

prevalent, and are not restricted to those 

with an alcohol use disorder. At all 


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73 Id. 74 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025, 

9th Edition, published December 2020, available at 

https://www.DietaryGuidelines.gov/sites/default/ 

files/2021-03/Dietary_Guidelines_for_Americans2020-2025.pdf. 

75See NIAAA, Alcohol’s Effects on Health, 

available at https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcoholseffects-health/alcohols-effects-body. 

76Scientific Report of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines 

Advisory Committee, supra note 72. 

77 Id. 

78See Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 

Facts About U.S. Deaths from Excessive Alcohol 

Use, available at https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/factsstats/index.html. 

79 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, supra note 

74. 

80 Id. 

81Scientific Report of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines 

Advisory Committee, supra note 72. 

levels, and particularly for high per 

occasion alcohol consumption and 

resulting blood alcohol concentrations, 

alcohol is associated with an increase in 

intentional injuries, such as suicide and 

homicide, and unintentional injuries, 

such as motor vehicle accidents and 

drownings.73

With regard to health effects, the 

Dietary Guidelines for Americans note 

that ‘‘among those who drink, higher 

average alcohol consumption is 

associated with an increased risk of 

death from all causes compared with 

lower average alcohol consumption.’’ 74

NIAAA and other authorities state that 

alcohol is also associated with increased 

risk of certain types of cancer (head and 

neck, esophageal, liver, colorectal, and 

breast cancer in women).75 The 

Scientific Report states that high average 

alcohol consumption and binge 

drinking are associated with an 

increased risk of coronary heart disease, 

stroke, congestive heart failure, atrial 

fibrillation, and hypertension.76 The 

report also identifies alcohol as a risk 

factor for several gastrointestinal health 

outcomes, including chronic liver 

disease. 

The Scientific Report also notes that 

alcohol is an important risk factor or 

contributor to many social and mental 

health problems, including depression, 

child abuse and neglect, fetal alcohol 

spectrum disorder, domestic violence, 

and sexual assault.77 Additionally, 

according to the Centers for Disease 

Control (CDC), nearly 4,000 alcoholattributable deaths occur annually 

among persons under 21 years of age, 

either due to underage drinking or to 

effects from others’ drinking.78 Finally, 

the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 

note that alcohol beverages provide 

calories but few nutrients.79 The 

guidelines state that among U.S. adults 

who drink, alcohol accounts for 

approximately 9 percent of energy 

intake, making it more difficult to meet 

dietary recommendations.80 For those 

who consume excessively, the number 

of calories from alcohol may be 

considerably higher, and binge drinking 

is associated with obesity.81

Given these risks, it is clearly 

important that alcohol beverage 

consumers can easily access information 

about the most important factors 

associated with these products. 

Consumers cannot follow governmental 

and medical advice about moderate 

consumption without knowing, at a 

minimum, the alcohol content of the 

product. Labels that provide basic 

information about the calories of the 

product, on a per-serving basis, provide 

consumers with the knowledge needed 

to understand how many discretionary 

calories may come from alcohol 

consumption. Finally, information 

about carbohydrate, fat, and protein 

content provides a basic overview of the 

macronutrients in an alcohol beverage. 

In response to Notice No. 232, the 

CDC commented that per-serving 

alcohol and nutritional information 

would provide consumers with ‘‘the 

necessary information to manage their 

caloric intake and to make better 

informed decisions about alcoholic 

beverages consumption.’’ The CDC said 

that ‘‘[p]roviding nutrition labels that 

include carbohydrate, fat, and protein 

per serving is especially crucial for 

certain groups of people, such as people 

who have diabetes, who need to closely 

monitor their carbohydrate intake.’’ The 

CDC further stated that calorie content 

was important to consumers because it 

‘‘could remind consumers that alcoholic 

drinks contain calories, and potentially 

influence their decisions to not 

purchase or consume as much alcohol 

to meet existing goals or intentions (i.e., 

weight loss, diabetes management).’’ 

Thus, this proposed regulation could, 

if implemented, result in a range of 

benefits stemming from providing 

additional information to consumers. 

Being able to view the alcohol content 

and amount of alcohol per serving in an 

easily understood labeling statement 

will help consumers better understand 

the amount of alcohol they are 

consuming. This information, along 

with the macronutrient disclosures in 

an Alcohol Facts statement, will help 

consumers follow advice from the U.S. 

Government, public health 

organizations, and their own doctors 

regarding calorie and alcohol 

consumption levels. While TTB is 

unable to quantify these potential 

benefits, we welcome public comments 

with relevant information on this issue. 

C. Costs of Compliance 

As set forth in Section IX of this 

preamble, based on its use of the FDA 

Labeling Cost Model, and assuming a 5- 

year compliance period, TTB estimates 

initial implementation costs of 

approximately $201.2 million in 2023 

dollars (or $40.2 million per year). 

Assuming that laboratory analysis is 

conducted for two samples of each 

brand extension per year (which may be 

an overestimate), and using the FDA 

estimates for the cost of such a 

laboratory analysis, the recurring annual 

costs would be approximately $64 

million. 

D. Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and 

14094 

This proposed rule is a ‘‘significant 

regulatory action’’ for purposes of 

Executive Order 12866, as 

supplemented by Executive Order 

13563 and amended by Executive Order 

14094, and has been reviewed by the 

Office of Management and Budget. 

E. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

Pursuant to the requirements of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 

601–612), TTB has analyzed the 

potential economic effects of this action 

on small entities. In lieu of the initial 

regulatory flexibility analysis required 

to accompany proposed rules under 5 

U.S.C. 603, section 605 allows the head 

of an agency to certify that a rule will 

not, if promulgated, have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. 

TTB certifies that this proposed rule, 

if adopted, would not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. The proposed 

rule will not impose, or otherwise 

cause, a significant increase in 

reporting, recordkeeping, or other 

compliance burdens on a substantial 

number of small entities. The proposed 

rule is not expected to have significant 

secondary or incidental effects on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

Accordingly, a regulatory flexibility 

analysis is not required. Pursuant to 26 

U.S.C. 7805(f), TTB will submit the 

proposed regulations to the Chief 

Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 

Business Administration (SBA) for 

comment on the impact of the proposed 

regulations on small businesses. 

The following analysis provides the 

factual basis for TTB’s certification 

under section 605. 


KHAMMOND on DSK9W7S144PROD with PROPOSALS3
6686 Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 11 / Friday, January 17, 2025 / Proposed Rules 

82Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau 

Annual Report Fiscal Year 2022 (FY 2022 TTB 

Annual Report), available at https://www.ttb.gov/ 

images/pdfs/ttbar2022.pdf, page 5. 

83 Id. at page 10. 

84 Id. at page 16. It should be noted that the 

number of label applications does not necessarily 

correlate to the number of brands and UPCs in the 

marketplace, for several reasons. TTB cannot 

determine whether approved labels actually appear 

in the marketplace, or how long those labels may 

remain in use. For example, there may be malt 

beverage labels authorized for a particular sporting 

event that are no longer found in the marketplace 

a few months after the event has taken place. On 

the other hand, some labels may be revised to 

reflect different net contents or alcohol content 

statements without submission of a new label to 

TTB. Industry members may decide not to use 

labels for which they have obtained approval. Thus, 

TTB does not use the number of COLA applications 

as an estimate of how many brands or UPCs are in 

the marketplace at any given time. 85 Id. at page 30. 86Economic Contributions of Alcohol Beverage 

Industry 2019, Distilled Spirits Council of the 

United States, available at https://

www.distilledspirits.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/ 

10/Economic-Contributions-2019.pdf. See Annual 

Economic Briefing (February 9, 2023), Distilled 

Spirits Council of the United States, available at 

https://www.distilledspirits.org/wp-content/ 

uploads/2023/02/FINAL-2022-AEB-Slide-Deck2.9.23-941am.pdf. 

87See Size Standards, U.S. Small Business 

Administration, available at http://www.sba.gov/ 

content/small-business-size-standards. 88 13 CFR 121.201. 89 2019 SUSB Annual Data Tables by 

Establishment Industry, U.S. Census Bureau, 

available at https://www.census.gov/data/tables/ 

2019/econ/susb/2019-susb-annual.html. 

90This data is only available from Economic 

Census years (years ending in 2 and 7). See 2017 

SUSB Annual Data Tables by Establishment 

Industry, U.S. Census Bureau, available at https:// 

www.census.gov/data/tables/2017/econ/susb/2017- 

susb-annual.html. 

91A recent study estimates that 28.3 percent of 

brewing facilities are brewpubs, with 66.7 percent 

of brewing facilities categorized as ‘‘micro’’ 

breweries. The study explains that brewpubs and 

small micro-brewers ‘‘produce beer for a limited 

market—sometimes only for their own restaurant or 

retail establishment.’’ See Beer Serves America—A 

Study of the U.S. Beer Industry’s Economic 

Contribution in 2022,’’ prepared for the Beer 

Institute and National Beer Wholesalers 

Association, which is available at https://

beerservesamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/ 

05/2022-Beer-Serves-America-Report.pdf. 

1. Overview of the Alcohol Beverage 

Industry 

In FY 2022, TTB collected $8.3 billion 

in taxes from the alcohol industry.82

With regard to the total number of 

authorized producers of alcohol 

beverages, there are 17,649 wineries and 

bonded wine cellars; 14,185 brewers; 

and 4,494 distillers.83

However, the number of authorized 

producers and importers who obtain 

certificates of label approval (COLAs) in 

any given year is much lower. In FY 

2022, TTB received 192,954 label 

applications and 26,922 formula 

applications for alcohol beverages.84

Internal data from TTB’s COLAs Online 

system shows that fewer than 12,000 

permittees or brewers applied for label 

approval in each of Fiscal Years 2020– 

2022, and that for that overall 3-year 

time period, fewer than 18,000 

permittees or brewers applied for label 

approval. 

The value of the U.S. import trade in 

alcohol beverages in 2021 totaled $23.9 

billion.85 According to data published 

on the website of the Distilled Spirits 

Council of the United States,86 the total 

economic contribution of the alcohol 

beverage industry to the U.S. economy 

in 2019 included 2,514,000 ‘‘direct’’ 

jobs and 5,630,000 ‘‘total’’ jobs; $67.9 

billion in direct wages and $160.3 

billion in total wages; and $242.6 billion 

in direct economic activity and $572.3 

billion in total economic activity. 

2. Small Businesses in the Alcohol 

Beverage Industry 

TTB recognizes that the vast majority 

of producers, bottlers, and importers of 

alcohol beverages are small entities. The 

SBA sets out size standards based on the 

North American Industry Classification 

System (NAICS), under which an entity 

can be considered small for the 

purposes of Regulatory Flexibility Act 

analysis.87 Breweries are considered 

small if they have fewer than 1,250 

employees; wineries are considered 

small if they have fewer than 1,000 

employees; and distilleries are 

considered small if they have fewer than 

1,100 employees.88

The U.S. Census Bureau’s Statistics of 

U.S. Businesses (SUSB) data include 

information on employment among 

establishments within NAICS codes. 

The most recent data are from 2019.89

The SUSB data did not include 

employment at the 1,000, 1,100, or 

1,250 employee threshold; however, it 

does include the number of firms within 

each NAICS code that have at least 500 

employees. Based on those numbers, 

approximately 99 percent of the firms in 

these three NAICS codes are small 

entities. The percentage may be greater, 

depending on how many firms have at 

least 500 employees and fewer than 

1,000 employees (for wineries), 1,100 

employees (for distilleries), or 1,250 

employees (for breweries). There is no 

NAICS code for importers of alcohol 

beverages. 

TABLE 6—NUMBER OF FIRMS WITH AT LEAST 500 EMPLOYEES

Small-entity size standards for potentially affected industries and number of firms 

with at least 500 employees 

Industry 

(NAICS code) Small-entity size standard Total number of firms Number of firms with at least 500 employees Total employment 

Breweries (NAICS 312120) .... Fewer than 1,250 employees 4,217 23 (approximately 0.5 percent) ...................... 84,503 

Wineries (NAICS 312130) ...... Fewer than 1,000 employees 3,944 19 (approximately 0.48 percent) .................... 59,587 

Distilleries (NAICS 312140) ... Fewer than 1,100 employees 1,004 10 (approximately 1%) ................................... 16,828 

Data on revenues by firm size and 

industry are also available in the SUSB 

but are published less frequently. The 

most recent data available is from 

2017.90 Based on this data, with the 

revenues adjusted for inflation, 2,609 of 

the total number of firms (3,214) listed 

as breweries under NAICS Code 312120 

have fewer than 20 employees.91 This 

category accounts for $3,314,362,000 of 

the total inflation-adjusted receipts of 

$36,032,713,000, or roughly 9.2 percent 

of the total receipts. With regard to 

wineries, 2,975 of the 3,576 firms under 

NAICS Code 31230 have fewer than 20 

employees. This category accounts for 

$2,907,606,000 of the total inflationadjusted receipts of $24,891,833,000, or 

roughly 12 percent of the total receipts. 

With regard to distilleries, 659 of the 

760 firms under NAICS Code 31240 

have fewer than 20 employees. This 

category accounts for $1,060,898,000 of 

the total inflation-adjusted receipts of 

$14,590,615,000 or roughly 7 percent of 

the total receipts. 

3. Effect of the Proposed Rule 

The vast majority of businesses 

subject to the proposed rule are small 

businesses, but the changes proposed in 

this document will not have a 

significant impact on those small 


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Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 11 / Friday, January 17, 2025 / Proposed Rules 6687 

entities. The production, bottling, 

importation, and distribution of alcohol 

beverages is an industry subject to 

extensive Federal, State, and local 

regulation. The labeling and advertising 

regulations under the FAA Act have 

been in place since 1936. Adding more 

elements of mandatory information to 

the label will not have a significant 

impact on the regulated industry. 

TTB cannot estimate the exact cost 

per small entity because we do not 

know how many product brands 

(covered by different UPCs) on average 

are owned by small entities as defined 

by the SBA. However, TTB estimates 

that the initial costs of complying with 

a final rule resulting from this proposal 

would be roughly $1,636 per UPC. 

Therefore, a small entity owning one to 

ten UPCs would incur a cost of between 

roughly $1,636 to $16,636 over the 

proposed 5-year implementation period. 

In response to its 2007 proposed rule 

on mandatory Serving Facts 

information, TTB received many 

comments from small businesses who 

were concerned that the new labeling 

requirements would negatively affect 

their market share, and who pointed out 

that larger competitors could more 

easily absorb the costs associated with 

the new labeling requirements. Many of 

the small businesses assumed that they 

would be required to run laboratory 

analyses for every batch they produced. 

These concerns were repeated in 

comments on Notice No. 232. Small 

businesses commented that laboratory 

analysis would be costly, extend the 

time to bring a product to market, and 

affect small producers’ ability to 

compete in the marketplace. 

As described in the next section, TTB 

has tailored this proposal to avoid many 

costs associated with labeling changes, 

including providing for an extended 

compliance period, allowing smaller 

linear displays, increasing tolerances to 

avoid the need for analytical testing in 

many cases, and not requiring new 

COLA submissions. 

4. Alternative Options Considered by 

TTB 

TTB has considered several options to 

reduce the regulatory burdens and 

economic costs imposed by the 

proposed rule on small businesses, as 

described below: 

a. Exemption for Small Businesses 

TTB received over a dozen comments 

proposing a small business exemption 

to any new labeling requirements, 

mostly from small producers or their 

trade associations. Many commenters 

specifically proposed that TTB provide 

an exemption similar to the small 

business exemptions to FDA’s nutrition 

labeling requirements provided for in 

section 403(q) of the Federal Food, 

Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Not all 

commenters, however, favored a small 

business exemption. The American 

Beverage Licensees and the Beer 

Institute commented against exemptions 

for small producers. 

TTB considered the comments 

requesting a small business exemption 

from the requirements of the proposed 

rule; however, this proposal does not 

include this option. One of the primary 

purposes of this proposed rule is to 

provide additional information to 

consumers. This purpose would be 

weakened by a permanent exemption 

for small businesses. There is no reason 

to believe that consumers of alcohol 

beverages produced by small producers 

are less interested in obtaining 

information about the alcohol, calorie, 

and nutrient content of the beverages 

they consume. Moreover, TTB questions 

whether a permanent exemption from 

mandatory labeling requirements would 

be consistent with the FAA Act mandate 

to ensure that labels provide consumers 

with adequate information about the 

identity, quality, and alcohol content of 

the product. TTB notes that there is no 

specific statutory authority for 

exempting small businesses from the 

requirements of the FAA Act as there is 

under the Federal Food, Drug, and 

Cosmetic Act for nutritional labeling 

regulated by the FDA. 

b. Extended Compliance Period for 

Small Businesses 

TTB considered the option of 

proposing an extended compliance 

period only for small businesses. 

However, this would present significant 

logistical difficulties for TTB and 

impose a new information reporting 

burden on industry members. When 

reviewing applications for label 

approval, TTB employees do not have 

access to the number of people 

employed by each company, and thus it 

would not be practical to base 

compliance status on the SBA standards 

for small businesses. Additionally, 

reporting such information to TTB with 

each label application would impose a 

new burden on all industry members 

that would be subject to this proposed 

rule. Instead, TTB is proposing a 

compliance period of 5 years for all 

industry members, and is assuming that 

many industry members, particularly 

large businesses who are already likely 

to be using this information in their 

labeling and marketing, will start using 

Alcohol Facts labels after publication of 

a final rule, in advance of the 

compliance date. 

As previously noted, the label 

redesign, printing, and administrative 

costs associated with making a labeling 

change are on a per-UPC basis. Under 

the FDA Labeling Cost Model, the 

longer the compliance period, the more 

likely it is that affected industry 

members can coordinate new labeling 

requirements with scheduled labeling 

changes, so cost estimates fall 

significantly as the time allowed for the 

new labeling requirements increases. In 

other words, the longer the period of 

time industry is given to comply with 

the new labeling requirements, the 

lower the costs. According to the FDA 

Labeling Cost Model, with a compliance 

period of 5 years, 100 percent of the 

labeling changes resulting from a 

regulatory change can be coordinated 

with a regularly scheduled labeling 

change, thus significantly reducing the 

estimated costs and burdens for small 

businesses that are subject to the 

proposed rule. Five years is also the 

longest implementation date 

recommended by a commenter to Notice 

No. 232. 

c. Linear Display 

In response to Notice No. 73, many 

small businesses objected to TTB’s 

proposal to require a Serving Facts 

panel with a linear format option 

available only for small containers. 

Many commenters suggested that small 

businesses would have no choice but to 

place the panel on a back label, and 

noted that some small businesses lacked 

the equipment necessary to place a back 

label on their container. 

Taking into account the points made 

by those commenters, the current 

proposed rule will allow the option of 

a linear display for all products, 

regardless of the size of the container. 

TTB believes that this will significantly 

reduce the costs of compliance with the 

new regulations, while still providing 

consumers with a clear statement of 

alcohol content and calorie and nutrient 

content. TTB believes that the potential 

benefits of having a larger and more 

readily noticeable display would not 

outweigh the costs of compliance with 

such a requirement. The linear display 

will provide additional flexibility to 

small businesses, while still ensuring 

that labels provide consumers with the 

required information. Industry members 

may still opt to use the panel display. 

d. Electronic Disclosure 

TTB considered, but is not proposing, 

the option to allow disclosure of the 

proposed Alcohol Facts information via 

electronic means. Several commenters 

to Notice No. 232 stated that this option 

would reduce the burden of this 


KHAMMOND on DSK9W7S144PROD with PROPOSALS3
6688 Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 11 / Friday, January 17, 2025 / Proposed Rules 

proposed rulemaking because small 

businesses would not need to change 

label designs as frequently as they 

would if the Alcohol Facts information 

appeared on the physical label. For the 

reasons previously discussed in Section 

VII.B.8.c, TTB believes electronic 

disclosure would create undue barriers 

to access the information by consumers 

so is not proposing it in this rulemaking. 

e. Broadened Tolerance Levels 

As previously noted in Section 

VII.B.3, TTB is proposing broader 

tolerance levels to facilitate the use of 

‘‘typical values’’ charts, formulas, and 

other methodologies to calculate the 

alcohol, calories, carbohydrate, fat, and 

protein content of an alcohol beverage 

product without the need to conduct 

laboratory analyses for each batch. In 

response to Notice No. 232, many 

commenters expressed concern that 

laboratory analysis would place undue 

burden on small businesses and affect 

their competitiveness in the market. The 

commenters stated, and TTB agrees, that 

the ability to use charts and 

methodologies that do not require thirdparty testing should reduce costs and 

regulatory burdens on small businesses. 

f. Allowing Labeling Changes Without a 

New COLA 

TTB is proposing to further reduce the 

costs associated with the label redesign 

by not requiring industry members to 

submit new applications for label 

approval when the only change being 

made to the label is the inclusion of a 

new Alcohol Facts statement, or the 

replacement of an already approved 

Serving Facts statement or statement of 

average analysis with a new Alcohol 

Facts statement. 

g. Solicitation of Comments 

TTB solicits comments on all of the 

options discussed in this section, on any 

costs, burdens, and benefits associated 

with the proposed rule, and on any 

impact on small businesses. TTB 

welcomes data on all of these issues. 

F. Paperwork Reduction Act 

Fourteen of the regulatory sections 

addressed in this notice of proposed 

rulemaking contain collections of 

information that have been previously 

reviewed and approved by the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) in 

accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507). 

Those regulatory sections are 27 CFR 

4.32, 4.36, 4.38, 5.52, 5.63, 5.65, 7.52, 

7.63, 7.65, 24.257, 25.141, 25.142, 27.59, 

and 27.60, and they contain existing 

information collections assigned OMB 

control numbers 1513–0086, 1513–0087, 

and 1513–0092. OMB No. 1513–0086 

concerns marks and labels on beer 

containers required under the authority 

of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), 

OMB No. 1513–0087 concerns alcohol 

beverage labeling requirements under 

the Federal Alcohol Administration Act 

(FAA Act), and 1513–0092 concerns 

marks and labels on wine containers 

required under the authority of the IRC. 

In this proposed rule, under its IRC 

authorities, TTB is revising the 

information collections approved under 

OMB Nos. 1513–0086 and 1513–0092 by 

requiring alcohol content statements on 

all domestic and imported consumer 

containers of beer and wine. In addition, 

under its FAA authority, TTB is revising 

the information collection currently 

approved under OMB No. 1513–0087 to 

add a new information collection that 

generally requires an Alcohol Facts 

statement to appear on alcohol beverage 

labels for domestic and imported 

products subject to the jurisdictional 

requirements of the FAA Act. An agency 

may not conduct or sponsor, and a 

person is not required to respond to, a 

collection of information unless it 

displays a valid control number 

assigned by OMB. 

The regulatory sections in this 

proposed rule that contain new 

information collection requirements for 

an Alcohol Facts statement are in 

proposed regulatory sections §§ 4.111– 

4.114 for wine labels, §§ 5.211–5.214 for 

distilled spirits labels, and §§ 7.211– 

7.214 for malt beverage labels. In 

addition, references to the new 

requirements for an Alcohol Facts 

statement will appear in §§ 4.32, 4.36, 

4.38, 5.52, 5.63, 5.65, 7.52, 7.63, and 

7.65. This new collection of information 

will be mandatory, and the likely 

respondents are for-profit businesses, 

including corporations, partnerships, 

and small businesses. 

Specifically, the new information 

collection would require alcohol 

beverage bottlers and importers to 

disclose per-serving alcohol, calorie, 

and nutrient content information in an 

Alcohol Facts statement as the proposed 

regulations will require that statement 

on all domestic and imported alcohol 

beverage labels subject to the FAA Act. 

The Alcohol Facts statement would 

include information about the alcohol 

content of the product expressed as a 

percentage of alcohol by volume and in 

fluid ounces of pure ethyl alcohol per 

serving, as well as information about the 

number of calories and the amount, in 

grams, of carbohydrates, fat, and protein 

per serving. Bottlers and importers 

could present the Alcohol Facts 

statement in either a panel or a linear 

format. 

The FDA Labeling Cost Model 

projects a ‘‘mean’’ internal 

recordkeeping burden of 1 hour per UPC 

for labeling changes that are 

coordinated, and 2 hours per UPC for 

labeling changes that are not 

coordinated. TTB is proposing a 5-year 

compliance date, which means that 100 

percent of the labeling changes will be 

‘‘coordinated.’’ Furthermore, TTB does 

not propose to require industry 

members to submit new COLA 

applications for the sole purpose of 

adding, or revising, an Alcohol Facts 

label statement. Thus, the proposed rule 

would not increase recordkeeping 

requirements under the COLA 

requirement, which is covered by OMB 

Control Number 1513–0020. 

TTB believes that a significant 

proportion of the alcohol beverage 

industry already collects and maintains 

information regarding the nutrient 

content of their products, and that they 

do so in the usual course of business. 

Furthermore, domestic producers of 

wines, distilled spirits, and malt 

beverages are already required to 

determine and keep records of the 

alcohol content of their products 

pursuant to existing regulations under 

the IRC. 

Accordingly, TTB is estimating an 

annual burden of one hour per 

respondent for the new Alcohol Facts 

proposal under the FAA Act labeling 

regulations. TTB estimates its annual 

burden as follows: 

• Number of Respondents: 13,000. 

• Number of Responses: 13,000 (1 

response per respondent). 

• Average per-response Burden: 1 

hour per respondent. 

• Total Annual Burden: 13,000 hours. 

In addition, under its IRC authorities 

in 26 U.S.C. Chapter 51, TTB is 

proposing to expand existing 

requirements for alcohol content 

statements as a percentage of alcohol by 

volume to beers and wines that were not 

subject to mandatory alcohol content 

labeling under the FAA Act. TTB has 

determined that mandatory alcohol 

content statements on labels for all beer 

and wines subject to tax under the IRC 

will assist in protection of the revenue. 

TTB will account for these new IRCbased information collection 

requirements under the existing 

information collections approved under 

OMB No. 1513–0086 for beer labels and 

OMB No. 1513–0092 for wine labels. 

The specific proposed regulatory 

sections that include those expanded 

IRC-based alcohol content labeling 

requirements are §§ 24.257(a)(3), 25.141, 

25.142, 27.59, and 27.60. 

Currently, TTB considers the IRCbased labeling requirements for beer and 


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wine, approved under OMB Nos. 1513– 

0086 and 1513–0092, respectively, to 

require only the display of usual and 

customary label information, which, 

under OMB regulations, imposes no 

additional burden on respondents under 

the Paperwork Reduction Act. TTB 

believes that responses to the expanded 

requirements to display alcohol content 

on labels of beer and wine that were not 

previously subject to such a requirement 

will not require more than 1 hour 

annually per respondent. TTB believes 

that the great majority of beer and wine 

bottlers and importers either already 

label their products with an alcohol 

content statement or have ready access 

to such information for quality control 

purposes (or under IRC regulations, for 

domestic products) even if they do not 

display that information on their 

product labels. In addition, given the 

proposed compliance period of 5 years, 

TTB believes that all alcohol beverage 

bottlers and importers will be able to 

coordinate any required labeling 

changes with their usual and customary 

scheduled labeling changes. 

For the revised IRC-based beer 

labeling information collection, 

approved under OMB No. 1513–0086, 

TTB estimates the revised annual 

burden for that collection as follows: 

• Number of Respondents: 10,000. 

• Number of Responses: 10,000 (1 per 

respondent). 

• Average per-response Burden: 1 

hour. 

• Total Annual Burden: 10,000 hours. 

For the revised IRC-based wine 

labeling information collection, 

approved under OMB No. 1513–0092, 

TTB estimates the revised annual 

burden for that collection as follows: 

• Number of Respondents: 14,300. 

• Number of Responses: 14,300 (1 per 

respondent). 

• Average per-response Burden: 1 

hour. 

• Total Annual Burden: 14,300 hours. 

TTB has submitted the new Alcohol 

Facts statement information collection 

requirements and the revised collection 

requirements under the FAA Act and 

the IRC to the OMB for review. Please 

send any comments on these new and 

revised collection requirements to OMB 

at Office of Management and Budget, 

Attention: Desk Officer for the 

Department of the Treasury, Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Washington, DC 20503, or by email to 

OIRA_submissions@omb.eop.gov. Please 

also send a copy of any such comments 

to TTB by any of the comment 

submission methods described in the 

ADDRESSES section of this document. 

Comments should be submitted no later 

than April 17, 2025. 

TTB specifically requests comments 

concerning: 

• The accuracy of the estimated 

burden associated with the proposed 

collections of information (see below); 

• Whether a unified compliance date 

for labeling changes that may arise from 

this rulemaking, along with separate 

rulemakings on ingredient labeling and 

allergen labeling, would result in 

lowering the combined burden hours for 

the three rulemakings; 

• Whether the proposed labeling 

requirements are necessary in order to 

provide consumers with adequate 

information as to the identity, quality, 

and alcohol content of alcohol beverage 

products, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

• How to enhance the quality, utility, 

and clarity of the information to be 

collected; 

• How to minimize the burden of 

complying with the collections of 

information; and; 

• Estimates of capital and start-up 

costs and costs of operation, 

maintenance, and purchase of services 

to maintain records and substantiate 

label claim. 

XII. Severability 

For the reasons described in Section 

II, TTB’s Authority to Regulate Alcohol 

Beverage Labeling, TTB believes that its 

authority to implement all provisions of 

the proposed regulation is wellsupported in law and should be upheld 

in any legal challenge. TTB also believes 

that its exercise of its authority reflects 

sound policy. However, in the event 

that any portion of the proposed rule is 

declared invalid, TTB intends that the 

labeling provisions proposed under 

TTB’s FAA Act authority be severable 

from those proposed under TTB’s IRC 

authority. For example, if a provision of 

the rule promulgated under TTB’s FAA 

Act authority is invalidated, the 

provisions of this rule promulgated 

under TTB’s IRC authority should 

remain valid. TTB intends these 

provisions to be severable because TTB 

is of the view that the set of provisions 

proposed under the FAA Act and the set 

of provisions proposed under the IRC 

would each still function sensibly even 

if the other, as finalized, was found 

unlawful. 

List of Subjects 

27 CFR Part 4 

Advertising, Alcohol and alcoholic 

beverages, Customs duties and 

inspection, Imports, Labeling, Packaging 

and containers, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Surety 

bonds, Trade practices, Treaties, Wine. 

27 CFR Part 5 

Advertising, Alcohol and alcoholic 

beverages, Customs duties and 

inspection, Distilled spirits, Food 

additives, Grains, Imports, International 

agreements, Labeling, Liquors, 

Packaging and containers, Reporting 

and recordkeeping requirements, Trade 

practices. 

27 CFR Part 7 

Advertising, Alcohol and alcoholic 

beverages, Beer, Customs duties and 

inspection, Food additives, Imports, 

Labeling, Malt Beverages, Packaging and 

containers, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Trade practices. 

27 CFR Part 24 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Claims, Electronic funds 

transfers, Excise taxes, Exports, Food 

additives, Fruit juices, Labeling, 

Liquors, Packaging and containers, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Research, Scientific 

equipment, Spices and flavorings, 

Surety bonds, Vinegar, Warehouses, 

Wine. 

27 CFR Part 25 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Beer, Claims, Electronic 

funds transfers, Excise taxes, Exports, 

Labeling, Packaging and containers, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Research, Surety bonds. 

27 CFR Part 27 

Alcohol and alcoholic beverages, 

Beer, Cosmetics, Customs duties and 

inspection, Electronic funds transfers, 

Excise taxes, Exports, Freight, Imports, 

Labeling, Liquors, Packaging and 

containers, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Surety bonds, Wine. 

Amendments to the Regulations 

For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, TTB is proposing to amend 

27 CFR parts 4, 5, 7, 24, 25, and 27, as 

set forth below: 

PART 4—LABELING AND 

ADVERTISING OF WINE 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 4 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 27 U.S.C. 205, unless otherwise 

noted. 

■ 2. In § 4.32, revise paragraph (b)(3) 

and add paragraph (b)(4) to read as 

follows: 

§ 4.32 Mandatory label information. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(3) Alcohol content, in accordance 

with § 4.36 and subpart L of this part. 


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6690 Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 11 / Friday, January 17, 2025 / Proposed Rules 

(4) An Alcohol Facts statement, in 

accordance with subpart L of this part. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. Revise § 4.36 to read as follows: 

§ 4.36 Alcohol content. 

(a) Wines containing more than 14 

percent alcohol by volume. An alcohol 

content statement, expressed in terms of 

a percentage of alcohol by volume, is 

required under this section for any wine 

containing more than 14 percent of 

alcohol by volume. Such a statement 

must appear in an Alcohol Facts 

statement in accordance with the 

requirements of subpart L of this part. 

(b) Wines containing not more than 14 

percent alcohol by volume. Part 24 of 

this chapter (setting forth the 

requirements under the Internal 

Revenue Code for domestic wines) and 

part 27 of this chapter (setting forth the 

requirements under the Internal 

Revenue Code for imported wines) 

require alcohol content statements, 

expressed in terms of a percentage of 

alcohol by volume, for all wines, 

including wines not exceeding 14 

percent of alcohol by volume, if those 

wines are subject to the tax imposed by 

26 U.S.C. 5041. Where such a statement 

appears on a wine label subject to the 

requirements of this part, it must 

conform to the requirements of this 

section, and it must appear in an 

Alcohol Facts statement in accordance 

with the requirements of subpart L of 

this part. 

(c) Additional alcohol content 

statements elsewhere on the label—(1) 

General. Any additional statement of 

alcohol content must be expressed in 

terms of a percentage of alcohol by 

volume, and may appear on any label 

affixed to the container, in one of the 

following formats: 

(i) ‘‘Alcohol ll percent by volume’’; 

(ii) ‘‘ll percent alcohol by volume’’; 

or 

(iii) ‘‘Alcohol by volume: ll 

percent’’. 

(2) Formatting rules. Any of the words 

or symbols may be enclosed in 

parentheses and authorized 

abbreviations may be used with or 

without a period. The alcohol content 

statement does not have to appear with 

quotation marks. 

(3) Optional abbreviations. The 

statements listed in paragraph (c)(1) of 

this section must appear as shown, 

except that the following abbreviations 

may be used: Alcohol may be 

abbreviated as ‘‘alc’’; percent may be 

represented by the percent symbol ‘‘%’’; 

alcohol and volume may be separated 

by a slash ‘‘/’’ in lieu of the word ‘‘by’’; 

and volume may be abbreviated as 

‘‘vol’’. 

(d) Tolerance levels for optional or 

mandatory alcohol content statements. 

Except as otherwise provided in 

paragraph (e) of this section, a tolerance 

of 1 percentage point in the case of 

wines containing more than 14 percent 

of alcohol by volume, and of 1.5 

percentage points in the case of wines 

containing not more than 14 percent 

alcohol by volume, will be permitted 

either above or below the stated 

percentage. 

(e) Exceptions to the tolerance 

provisions. Regardless of the tolerances 

specified in paragraph (d) of this 

section, any optional or mandatory 

alcohol content statement shall 

definitively and correctly indicate the 

class, type, and taxable grade of the 

wine so labeled, and nothing in this 

section shall be construed as 

authorizing the appearance upon the 

labels of any wine of an alcohol content 

statement that indicates that the alcohol 

content of the wine is within the 

prescribed limitation on the alcohol 

content of any class, type, or taxable 

grade of wine, when in fact it is not. 

■ 4. In § 4.38, revise paragraph (b)(3) 

and add paragraph (i) to read as follows: 

§ 4.38 General requirements. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(3) Alcohol content statements (other 

than those appearing in an Alcohol 

Facts statement required by subpart L of 

this part) may not appear in script, type, 

or printing larger or more conspicuous 

than 3 millimeters nor smaller than 1 

millimeter on labels of containers 

having a capacity of 5 liters or less and 

shall not be set off with a border or 

otherwise accentuated. 

* * * * * 

(i) Alcohol Facts statements. See 

subpart L of this part for more specific 

requirements that apply to Alcohol 

Facts statements. 

■ 5. Add subpart L to read as follows: 

Subpart L—Alcohol Facts Statement 

Sec. 

4.111 Alcohol Facts statement. 

4.112 Format for the Alcohol Facts 

statement. 

4.113 Placement of the Alcohol Facts 

statement. 

4.114 Tolerance levels. 

Subpart L—Alcohol Facts statement 

§ 4.111 Alcohol Facts statement. 

(a) General. The Alcohol Facts 

statement required under § 4.32(b)(4) 

must include the following information, 

and may not include additional 

information, except as provided in this 

section: 

(1) The single serving size, as defined 

in paragraph (b) of this section; 

(2) The number of servings per 

container; 

(3) Alcohol content as a percentage of 

alcohol by volume; 

(4) The number of fluid ounces of 

pure ethyl alcohol per serving; 

(5) The number of calories per 

serving; and 

(6) The number, in grams per serving, 

of carbohydrates, fat, and protein. 

(b) Single serving size and servings 

per container—(1) Definition. The term 

‘‘single serving size’’ or ‘‘serving size’’ 

means an amount of the wine 

customarily consumed as a single 

serving, expressed in U.S. fluid ounces 

and, in parentheses, in milliliters (mL) 

to the nearest whole number. This 

amount is not a recommended amount, 

but rather is only a reference amount to 

help consumers determine nutrient, 

alcohol, and calorie intake. The single 

serving size reference amounts for wines 

are: 

TABLE 1 TO PARAGRAPH (b)(1) 

For products 

containing: 

a single serving size 

is: 

At least 7% and not 

more than 16% alc/ 

vol.

5 fluid ounces (148 

mL). 

Over 16% and not 

more than 24% alc/ 

vol.

2.5 fluid ounces (74 

mL). 

(2) Single-serving containers. Wines 

packaged and sold in containers with a 

net content of less than 200 percent of 

a single serving size reference amount 

described in this section must be 

labeled as containing a single serving, 

and a single serving size is the net 

content of the container. 

(3) Multi-serving containers. Products 

packaged and sold in containers with a 

net content of 200 percent or more of 

the applicable single serving size 

reference amount described in this 

section will be considered to be in 

multi-serving containers, and the 

number of servings per container must 

be labeled to the nearest one-quarter 

serving. 

(c) Percentage of alcohol by volume. 

The Alcohol Facts statement must 

express the alcohol content as a 

percentage of alcohol by volume to the 

nearest tenth of a percent, subject to the 

tolerances set forth in § 4.36. 

(d) Alcohol expressed in fluid ounces. 

The Alcohol Facts statement must 

express the number of U.S. fluid ounces 

of pure ethyl alcohol per serving to the 

nearest tenth of an ounce. The 

declaration of alcohol in fluid ounces 

per serving is calculated from the 


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percent-by-volume alcohol content 

declaration. For example, 5 fl oz of a 

beverage with 12 percent alcohol by 

volume would have 0.6 fl oz of pure 

ethyl alcohol, while 5 fl oz of a beverage 

with 14 percent alcohol by volume 

would have 0.7 fl oz of pure ethyl 

alcohol. 

(e) Calories. Calorie statements may 

be expressed to the nearest calorie, or 

may be rounded to the nearest 10- 

calorie increment (for per-serving 

amounts above 50 calories) or the 

nearest 5-calorie increment (for perserving amounts up to 50 calories), 

subject to the tolerances set forth in 

§ 4.114. An amount less than 5 calories 

may be expressed as zero. 

(f) Carbohydrate. (1) The Alcohol 

Facts statement must express the 

number of grams of total carbohydrates 

in a serving to the nearest gram, except 

that if a serving contains less than 1 

gram, the statement ‘‘less than 1 gram’’ 

may be used as an alternative, and if the 

serving contains less than 0.5 gram, the 

content may be expressed as zero. 

(2) The Alcohol Facts statement may 

optionally express the number of grams 

of total sugars in a serving to the nearest 

gram, except that if a serving contains 

less than 1 gram, the statement ‘‘less 

than 1 gram’’ may be used as an 

alternative, and if the serving contains 

less than 0.5 g of sugar, the content may 

be expressed as zero. 

(g) Fat. The Alcohol Facts statement 

must express the number of grams of 

total fat in a serving (with total fat 

defined as total lipid fatty acids and 

expressed as triglycerides) to the nearest 

0.5 (1⁄2) gram increment below 5 grams 

and to the nearest gram increment at or 

above 5 grams. If the serving contains 

less than 0.5 gram, the content may be 

expressed as zero. 

(h) Protein. The Alcohol Facts 

statement must express protein content 

in grams per serving to the nearest gram, 

except that if a serving contains less 

than 1 gram, the statement ‘‘Contains 

less than 1 gram’’ or ‘‘less than 1 gram’’ 

may be used as an alternative, and if the 

serving contains less than 0.5 gram, the 

protein content may be expressed as 

zero. 

§ 4.112 Format for the Alcohol Facts 

statement. 

The Alcohol Facts statement must be 

presented in either a panel or a linear 

format, and the presentation must 

conform to the formatting specifications 

in this section. For wine containers with 

a net content of at least 200 percent and 

less than 500 percent of the applicable 

single serving size reference amount 

described in § 4.111, as an option, the 

Alcohol Facts statement may be 

presented in a dual-column panel 

format, which sets forth the required 

information per serving and per 

container, as illustrated by paragraph (j) 

of this section. 

(a) The panel or linear display must 

be set off within a box by use of 

hairlines with all black or one color 

type, printed on a contrasting 

background. 

(b) All information within the box 

must appear in a single, easy-to-read 

type style using both upper case and 

lower case letters. The box must be 

separate and apart from any additional 

information and the information must 

be readily legible to potential consumers 

under ordinary conditions. The type or 

printing must be at least 1 millimeter in 

height for containers of 187 mL or less 

and at least 2 millimeters in height for 

containers of more than 187 mL. 

(c) Bold face is required for the title 

‘‘Alcohol Facts’’ and for the heading 

‘‘Amount Per Serving’’ and is optional 

for the headings ‘‘Alcohol by volume,’’ 

‘‘Calories,’’ ‘‘Carbohydrate,’’ ‘‘Sugar’’ (if 

used), ‘‘Fat,’’ and ‘‘Protein.’’ 

(d) The Alcohol Facts statement must 

appear in the panel or linear format in 

the following order: 

(1) Serving size; 

(2) Servings per container; 

(3) Percentage of alcohol by volume; 

(4) U.S. fluid ounces of pure ethyl 

alcohol per serving. If a panel format is 

used, the U.S. fluid ounces of pure ethyl 

alcohol per serving must be indented 

directly under the percent-by-volume 

alcohol content declaration (see the 

example in paragraph (g) of this 

section); 

(5) Calories; 

(6) Carbohydrate; 

(7) Sugar (if used); 

(7) Fat; and 

(8) Protein. 

(e) The following abbreviations or 

shortened expressions may be used, 

with or without a period: 

(1) For percentage of alcohol by 

volume, the percent symbol ‘‘%’’, 

‘‘Alcohol by volume’’, ‘‘Alc/vol’’ or ‘‘Alc 

by vol’’; 

(2) For U.S. fluid ounces, ‘‘fl oz’’; 

(3) For grams, ‘‘g’’; 

(4) For carbohydrate, ‘‘Carb’’; 

(5) For serving, ‘‘Serv.’’; 

(6) For milliliter, ‘‘mL’’; and 

(7) For amount, ‘‘Amt.’’. 

(f) The expression of decimal amounts 

less than 1 must include a zero prior to 

the decimal point (for example, 0.5 fl 

oz). 

(g) The following Alcohol Facts 

statement illustrates an acceptable panel 

display for a 750 mL bottle of wine 

containing 14 percent alcohol by 

volume. 

Figure 1 to Paragraph (g) 

(h) The following Alcohol Facts 

statement illustrates an acceptable 

linear display for a 750 mL bottle of wine containing 14 percent alcohol by 

volume. 


KHAMMOND on DSK9W7S144PROD with PROPOSALS3EP17JA25.102</GPH>
6692 Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 11 / Friday, January 17, 2025 / Proposed Rules 

Figure 2 to Paragraph (h) 

(i) The following Alcohol Facts 

statement illustrates an acceptable panel 

display for a 100 mL bottle of wine 

containing 17 percent alcohol by 

volume. The container has a net content 

of less than 200 percent of a single 

serving size reference amount and thus 

is labeled as containing a single serving. 


KHAMMOND on DSK9W7S144PROD with PROPOSALS3EP17JA25.103</GPH>
Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 11 / Friday, January 17, 2025 / Proposed Rules 6693 

Figure 3 to Paragraph (i) 

(j) The following Alcohol Facts 

statement illustrates an acceptable dualcolumn panel display for a 375 mL bottle of wine containing 14 

percentalcohol by volume. 


KHAMMOND on DSK9W7S144PROD with PROPOSALS3EP17JA25.104</GPH>
6694 Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 11 / Friday, January 17, 2025 / Proposed Rules 

Figure 4 to Paragraph (j) 

§ 4.113 Placement of the Alcohol Facts 

statement. 

The Alcohol Facts statement may be 

presented in either a horizontal or 

vertical orientation. 

§ 4.114 Tolerance levels. 

(a) General. The following tolerance 

levels apply to labeling statements of 

calorie, carbohydrate (including sugar), 

protein, fat, and alcohol content for 

wines: 

(1) Calorie content. A tolerance of 20 

percent either above or below the stated 

calorie content is permitted. For 

example, a label showing 100 calories 

per serving is acceptable if the product 

has a calorie content of between 80 and 

120 calories per serving. 

(2) Carbohydrate (including sugar) 

and protein content. A tolerance of 20 

percent either above or below the stated 

carbohydrate, sugar, and protein content 

is permitted. For example, a label 

showing 7 grams of carbohydrates per 

serving is acceptable if the product has 

a carbohydrate content of between 5.6 

and 8.4 grams per serving. 

(3) Fat content. A tolerance of 20 

percent either above or below the stated 

fat content is permitted. For example, a 

label showing 7 grams of fat per serving 

is acceptable if the product has a fat 

content of between 5.6 and 8.4 grams 

per serving. 

(4) Alcohol content. The tolerances for 

alcohol content specified in § 4.36 

apply. The declaration of alcohol in 

fluid ounces per serving is calculated 

from the percent-by-volume alcohol 

content declaration. 

(b) Publication of analytical methods. 

TTB will maintain on its website 

(https://www.ttb.gov) information 

regarding the methods it uses to validate 

calorie, carbohydrate, protein, fat, and 

alcohol content statements. 

PART 5—LABELING AND 

ADVERTISING OF DISTILLED SPIRITS 

■ 6. The authority citation for part 5 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 26 U.S.C. 5301, 7805, 27 U.S.C. 

205 and 207. 

■ 7. In § 5.52, add paragraph (e) to read 

as follows: 

§ 5.52 Legibility and other requirements 

for mandatory information on labels. 

* * * * * 

(e) Alcohol Facts statements. See 

subpart L of this part for more specific 

requirements that apply to Alcohol 

Facts statements. 

■ 8. In § 5.63, revise paragraphs (a)(1) 

and (2), remove paragraph (a)(3), revise 

paragraphs (b)(1) and (2), and add 

paragraphs (b)(3) and (4) to read as 

follows: 

§ 5.63 Mandatory label information. 

(a) * * * 

(1) Brand name, in accordance with 

§ 5.64; and 

(2) Class, type, or other designation, 

in accordance with subpart I of this part. 

(b) * * * 

(1) Name and address of the bottler or 

distiller, in accordance with § 5.66, or 

the importer, in accordance with § 5.67 

or § 5.68, as applicable; 

(2) Net contents (which may be 

blown, embossed, or molded into the 

container as part of the process of 

manufacturing the container), in 

accordance with § 5.70; 

(3) Alcohol content, in accordance 

with § 5.65 and subpart L of this part; 

and 

(4) An Alcohol Facts statement, in 

accordance with subpart L of this part. 

* * * * * 

■ 9. In § 5.65, revise paragraph (a) and 

paragraph (b) introductory text to read 

as follows: 

§ 5.65 Alcohol content 

(a) General. The alcohol content for 

distilled spirits must be stated as a 

percentage of alcohol by volume and 

must appear in an Alcohol Facts 

statement in accordance with the 

requirements of subpart L of this part. 

Products that contain a significant 

amount of material, such as solid fruit, 

that may absorb spirits after bottling 

must state the alcohol content at the 

time of bottling as follows: ‘‘Bottled at 

llpercent alcohol by volume.’’ An 

additional statement of alcohol content 

as a percentage of alcohol by volume 

may appear on any label affixed to the 

container. 

(b) How the alcohol content must be 

expressed. The following rules apply to 

additional statements of alcohol content 

that appear on the label, other than the 

required statement in an Alcohol Facts 

statement: 

* * * * * 

■ 10. Add subpart L to read as follows: 

Subpart L—Alcohol Facts Statement 

Sec. 

5.211 Alcohol Facts statement. 

5.212 Format for the Alcohol Facts 

statement. 

5.213 Placement of the Alcohol Facts 

statement. 

5.214 Tolerance levels. 

Subpart L—Alcohol Facts Statement 

§ 5.211 Alcohol Facts statement. 

(a) General. The Alcohol Facts 

statement required under § 5.63(b)(4) 

must include the following information, 

and may not include additional 

information, except as provided in this 

section: 

(1) The single serving size, as defined 

in paragraph (b) of this section; 

(2) The number of servings per 

container; 


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(3) Alcohol content as a percentage of 

alcohol by volume; 

(4) The number of fluid ounces of 

pure ethyl alcohol per serving; 

(5) The number of calories per 

serving; and 

(6) The number, in grams per serving, 

of carbohydrates, fat, and protein. 

(b) Single serving size and servings 

per container—(1) Definition. The term 

‘‘single serving size’’ or ‘‘serving size’’ 

means an amount of the distilled spirits 

customarily consumed as a single 

serving, expressed in U.S. fluid ounces 

and, in parentheses, in milliliters (mL), 

to the nearest whole number. This 

amount is not a recommended amount, 

but rather is only a reference amount to 

help consumers determine nutrient, 

alcohol, and calorie intake. The single 

serving size reference amounts for 

distilled spirits are: 

TABLE 1 TO PARAGRAPH (b)(1) 

For products 

containing: 

a single serving size 

is: 

Not more than 7% 

alc/vol.

12 fluid ounces (355 

mL). 

Over 7% and not 

more than 16% alc/ 

vol.

5 fluid ounces (148 

mL). 

Over 16% and not 

more than 24% alc/ 

vol.

2.5 fluid ounces (74 

mL). 

Over 24% alc/vol ....... 1.5 fluid ounces (44 

mL) or 50 mL for a 

50 mL container. 

(2) Single-serving containers. Distilled 

spirits packaged and sold in containers 

with a net content of less than 200 

percent of a single serving size reference 

amount described in this section must 

be labeled as containing a single 

serving, and a single serving size is the 

net content of the container. 

(3) Multi-serving containers. Products 

packaged and sold in containers with a 

net content of 200 percent or more of 

the applicable single serving size 

reference amount described in this 

section will be considered to be in 

multi-serving containers, and the 

number of servings per container must 

be labeled to the nearest one-quarter 

serving. 

(c) Percentage of alcohol by volume. 

The Alcohol Facts statement must 

express the alcohol content as a 

percentage of alcohol by volume to the 

nearest tenth of a percent, subject to the 

tolerances set forth in § 5.65(c). Products 

that contain a significant amount of 

material, such as solid fruit, that may 

absorb spirits after bottling must state 

the alcohol content at the time of 

bottling as follows: ‘‘Bottled at 

llpercent alcohol by volume.’’ An 

optional statement of proof may also be 

included, as set forth in § 5.212(d)(4), 

but only if it is immediately adjacent to 

the percent-by-volume alcohol content 

declaration. 

(d) Alcohol expressed in fluid ounces. 

The Alcohol Facts statement must 

express the number of U.S. fluid ounces 

of pure ethyl alcohol per serving to the 

nearest tenth of an ounce. The 

declaration of alcohol in fluid ounces 

per serving is calculated from the 

percent-by-volume alcohol content 

declaration. For example, 5 fl oz of a 

beverage with 12 percent alcohol by 

volume would have 0.6 fl oz of pure 

ethyl alcohol, while 5 fl oz of a beverage 

with 14 percent alcohol by volume 

would have 0.7 fl oz of pure ethyl 

alcohol. 

(e) Calories. Calorie statements may 

be expressed to the nearest calorie, or 

may be rounded to the nearest 10- 

calorie increment (for per-serving 

amounts above 50 calories) or the 

nearest 5-calorie increment (for perserving amounts up to 50 calories), 

subject to the tolerances set forth in 

§ 5.214. An amount less than 5 calories 

may be expressed as zero. 

(f) Carbohydrate. (1) The Alcohol 

Facts statement must express the 

number of grams of total carbohydrates 

in a serving to the nearest gram, except 

that if a serving contains less than 1 

gram, the statement ‘‘less than 1 gram’’ 

may be used as an alternative, and if the 

serving contains less than 0.5 gram, the 

content may be expressed as zero. 

(2) The Alcohol Facts statement may 

optionally express the number of grams 

of total sugars in a serving to the nearest 

gram, except that if a serving contains 

less than 1 gram, the statement ‘‘less 

than 1 gram’’ may be used as an 

alternative, and if the serving contains 

less than 0.5 g of sugar, the content may 

be expressed as zero. 

(g) Fat. The Alcohol Facts statement 

must express the number of grams of 

total fat in a serving (with total fat 

defined as total lipid fatty acids and 

expressed as triglycerides) to the nearest 

0.5 (1⁄2) gram increment below 5 grams 

and to the nearest gram increment at or 

above 5 grams. If the serving contains 

less than 0.5 gram, the content may be 

expressed as zero. 

(h) Protein. The Alcohol Facts 

statement must express protein content 

in grams per serving to the nearest gram, 

except that if a serving contains less 

than 1 gram, the statement ‘‘Contains 

less than 1 gram’’ or ‘‘less than 1 gram’’ 

may be used as an alternative, and if the 

serving contains less than 0.5 gram, the 

protein content may be expressed as 

zero. 

§ 5.212 Format for the Alcohol Facts 

statement. 

The Alcohol Facts statement must be 

presented in either a panel or a linear 

format, and the presentation must 

conform to the formatting specifications 

in this section. For distilled spirits 

containers with a net content of at least 

200 percent and less than 500 percent 

of the applicable single serving size 

reference amount described in § 5.211, 

as an option, the Alcohol Facts 

statement may be presented in a dualcolumn panel which sets forth the 

required information per serving and 

per container, as illustrated by 

paragraph (i) of this section. 

(a) The panel or linear display must 

be set off within a box by use of 

hairlines with all black or one color 

type, printed on a contrasting 

background. 

(b) All information within the box 

must appear in a single, easy-to-read 

type style using both upper case and 

lower case letters. The type or printing 

must be at least 1 millimeter in height 

for containers of 200 mL or less and at 

least 2 millimeters in height for 

containers of more than 200 mL. 

(c) Bold face is required for the title 

‘‘Alcohol Facts’’ and for the heading 

‘‘Amount Per Serving,’’ and is optional 

for the headings ‘‘Alcohol by volume,’’ 

‘‘Calories,’’ ‘‘Carbohydrate,’’ ‘‘Sugar’’ (if 

used), ‘‘Fat,’’ and ‘‘Protein.’’ 

(d) The Alcohol Facts statement must 

appear in the panel or linear format in 

the following order: 

(1) Serving size; 

(2) Servings per container; 

(3) Percentage of alcohol by volume; 

(4) Optional statement of alcohol 

content in degrees of proof, which may 

only be presented in parentheses 

following the percentage of alcohol by 

volume declaration in the Alcohol Facts 

statement when displayed in a linear 

format. If a panel format is used, the 

statement of proof must be indented 

directly under the percent-by-volume 

alcohol content declaration (see the 

example in paragraph (g) of this 

section); 

(5) U.S. fluid ounces of pure ethyl 

alcohol per serving. If a panel format is 

used, the U.S. fluid ounces of pure ethyl 

alcohol per serving must be indented 

directly under the percent-by-volume 

alcohol content declaration, or under 

the optional proof statement if that is 

used (see the example in paragraph (g) 

of this section); 

(6) Calories; 

(7) Carbohydrate; 

(8) Sugar (if used); 

(9) Fat; and 

(10) Protein. 


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(e) The following abbreviations or 

shortened expressions may be used, 

with or without a period: 

(1) For percentage of alcohol by 

volume, the percent symbol ‘‘%’’, 

‘‘Alcohol by volume’’, ‘‘Alc/vol’’ or ‘‘Alc 

by vol’’; 

(2) For U.S. fluid ounces, ‘‘fl oz’’; 

(3) For grams, ‘‘g’’; 

(4) For carbohydrate, ‘‘Carb’’; 

(5) For serving, ‘‘Serv.’’; 

(6) For milliliter, ‘‘mL’’; and 

(7) For amount, ‘‘Amt.’’. 

(f) The expression of decimal amounts 

less than 1 must include a zero prior to 

the decimal point (for example, 0.5 fl 

oz). 

(g) The following Alcohol Facts 

statement illustrates an acceptable panel 

display for a 750 mL bottle of distilled 

spirits containing 40 percent alcohol by 

volume, and includes the optional 

statement of proof. 

Figure 1 to Paragraph (g) 

(h) The following Alcohol Facts 

statement illustrates an acceptable 

linear display for a 50 mL bottle of 

distilled spirits containing 40 percent 

alcohol by volume and includes the 

optional statement of proof. 


KHAMMOND on DSK9W7S144PROD with PROPOSALS3EP17JA25.106</GPH>
Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 11 / Friday, January 17, 2025 / Proposed Rules 6697 

Figure 2 to Paragraph (h) 

(i) The following Alcohol Facts 

statement illustrates an acceptable dualcolumn panel display for a 100 mL bottle of distilled spirits containing 40 

percent alcohol by volume. 


KHAMMOND on DSK9W7S144PROD with PROPOSALS3EP17JA25.107</GPH>
6698 Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 11 / Friday, January 17, 2025 / Proposed Rules 

Figure 3 to Paragraph (i) 

§ 5.213 Placement of the Alcohol Facts 

statement. 

The Alcohol Facts statement may be 

presented in either a horizontal or 

vertical orientation. 

§ 5.214 Tolerance levels. 

(a) General. The following tolerance 

levels apply to labeling statements of 

calorie, carbohydrate (including sugar), 

protein, fat, and alcohol content for 

distilled spirits: 

(1) Calorie content. A tolerance of 20 

percent either above or below the stated 

calorie content is permitted. For 

example, a label showing 100 calories 

per serving is acceptable if the product 

has a calorie content of between 80 and 

120 calories per serving. 

(2) Carbohydrate (including sugar) 

and protein content. A tolerance of 20 

percent either above or below the stated 

carbohydrate, sugar, and protein content 

is permitted. For example, a label 

showing 7 grams of carbohydrates per 

serving is acceptable if the product has 

a carbohydrate content of between 5.6 

and 8.4 grams per serving. 

(3) Fat content. A tolerance of 20 

percent either above or below the stated 

fat content is permitted. For example, a 

label showing 7 grams of fat per serving 

is acceptable if the product has a fat 

content of between 5.6 and 8.4 grams 

per serving. 

(4) Alcohol content. The tolerances for 

alcohol content specified in § 5.65(c) 

apply. The declaration of alcohol in 

fluid ounces per serving is calculated 

from the percent-by-volume alcohol 

content declaration. 

(b) Publication of analytical methods. 

TTB will maintain on its website 

(https://www.ttb.gov) information 

regarding the methods it uses to validate 

calorie, carbohydrate, protein, fat, and 

alcohol content statements. 

PART 7—LABELING AND 

ADVERTISING OF MALT BEVERAGES 

■ 11. The authority citation for part 7 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 27 U.S.C. 205 and 207. 

■ 12. In § 7.52, add paragraph (e) to read 

as follows: 

§ 7.52 Legibility and other requirements 

for mandatory information on labels. 

* * * * * 

(e) Alcohol Facts statements. See 

subpart L of this part for more specific 

requirements that apply to Alcohol 

Facts statements. 

■ 13. In § 7.53, revise paragraph (b) to 

read as follows: 

§ 7.53 Type size of mandatory information 

and alcohol content statements. 

* * * * * 

(b) Maximum type size optional 

alcohol content statements. (1) 

Containers of more than 40 fluid 

ounces. An alcohol content statement 

(other than one required to appear in an 

Alcohol Facts statement under subpart L 

of this part) may not appear in script, 

type, or printing that is more than four 

millimeters in height on containers of 

malt beverages of more than 40 fluid 

ounces. 

(2) Containers of 40 fluid ounces or 

less. An alcohol content statement 

(other than one required to appear in an 

Alcohol Facts statement under subpart L 

of this part) may not appear in script, 

type, or printing that is more than three 

millimeters in height on containers of 

malt beverages of 40 fluid ounces or 

less. 

■ 14. In § 7.63, revise paragraphs (a)(3) 

through (5) and add paragraph (a)(6) to 

read as follows: 

§ 7.63 Mandatory label information. 

(a) * * * 

(3) Alcohol content, in accordance 

with § 7.65 and subpart L of this part; 

(4) Name and address of the bottler or 

importer (which may be blown, 

embossed, or molded into the container 

as part of the process of manufacturing 

the container), in accordance with 

§ 7.66, § 7.67, or § 7.68, as applicable; 

(5) Net contents (which may be 

blown, embossed, or molded into the 

container as part of the process of 

manufacturing the container), in 

accordance with § 7.70; and 

(6) An Alcohol Facts statement, in 

accordance with subpart L of this part. 

* * * * * 

■ 15. Revise § 7.65 to read as follows: 

§ 7.65 Alcohol content 

(a) Alcohol content in Alcohol Facts 

statement. An alcohol content statement 

must appear in an Alcohol Facts 

statement in accordance with the 

requirements of subpart L of this part, 

unless prohibited by State law. 

(b) Additional alcohol content 

statements elsewhere on the label. The 

following rules apply to additional 

statements of alcohol content that 

appear on the label, other than the 

required statement in an Alcohol Facts 

statement. 

(1) General. An additional statement 

of alcohol content must be expressed as 

a percentage of alcohol by volume and 

may appear on any label affixed to the 

container. Other truthful, accurate, and 

specific factual representations of 

alcohol content, such as alcohol by 

weight, may also be made, as long as 

they appear together with, and as part 

of, a statement of alcohol content as a 

percentage of alcohol by volume. 

(i) The alcohol content statement 

must be expressed in one of the 

following formats: 

(A) ‘‘Alcohol llpercent by volume’’; 

(B) ‘‘llpercent alcohol by volume’’; 

or 


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(C) ‘‘Alcohol by volume: 

llpercent.’’ 

(ii) Any of the words or symbols may 

be enclosed in parentheses and 

authorized abbreviations may be used 

with or without a period. The alcohol 

content statement does not have to 

appear with quotation marks. 

(2) Optional abbreviations. The 

statements listed in paragraph (b)(1) of 

this section must appear as shown, 

except that the following abbreviations 

may be used: Alcohol may be 

abbreviated as ‘‘alc’’; percent may be 

represented by the percent symbol ‘‘%’’; 

alcohol and volume may be separated 

by a slash ‘‘/’’ in lieu of the word ‘‘by’’; 

and volume may be abbreviated as 

‘‘vol’’. 

(3) Examples. The following are 

examples of alcohol content statements 

that comply with the requirements of 

paragraph (b) of this part: 

(i) ‘‘4.2% alc/vol’’; 

(ii) ‘‘Alc. 4.0 percent by vol.’’; 

(iii) ‘‘Alc 4% by vol’’; and 

(iv) ‘‘5.9% Alcohol by Volume.’’ 

(c) Tolerance levels. A tolerance of 

one percentage point is permitted, either 

above or below the stated alcohol 

content, for malt beverages containing 

0.5 percent or more alcohol by volume. 

However, any malt beverage that is 

labeled as containing 0.5 percent or 

more alcohol by volume may not 

contain less than 0.5 percent alcohol by 

volume, regardless of any tolerance. The 

tolerance provided by this paragraph 

does not apply in determining 

compliance with the provisions of § 7.5 

regarding the percentage of alcohol 

derived from added nonbeverage flavors 

and other nonbeverage ingredients 

containing alcohol. For malt beverages 

containing less than 0.5 percent alcohol 

by volume, the actual alcohol content 

may be less than, but may not exceed, 

the labeled alcohol content. 

(d) Low alcohol and reduced alcohol. 

The terms ‘‘low alcohol’’ and ‘‘reduced 

alcohol’’ may be used only on malt 

beverages containing less than 2.5 

percent alcohol by volume. 

(e) Non-alcoholic. The term ‘‘nonalcoholic’’ may be used on malt 

beverages, provided the statement 

‘‘contains less than 0.5 percent (or .5%) 

alcohol by volume’’ appears 

immediately adjacent to it, in readily 

legible printing and on a completely 

contrasting background. 

(f) Alcohol free. A malt beverage may 

not be labeled with an alcohol content 

of 0.0 percent alcohol by volume, unless 

it is also labeled as ‘‘alcohol free’’ and 

contains no alcohol. The term ‘‘alcohol 

free’’ may be used only on malt 

beverages containing no alcohol. No 

tolerances are permitted for ‘‘alcohol 

free’’ malt beverages. 

■ 16. Add subpart L to read as follows: 

Subpart L—Alcohol Facts Statement 

Sec. 

7.211 Alcohol Facts statement. 

7.212 Format for the Alcohol Facts 

statement. 

7.213 Placement of the Alcohol Facts 

statement. 

7.214 Tolerance levels. 

Subpart L—Alcohol Facts Statement 

§ 7.211 Alcohol Facts statement. 

(a) General. The Alcohol Facts 

statement required under § 7.63(b)(6) 

must include the following information, 

and may not include additional 

information, except as provided in this 

section: 

(1) The single serving size, as defined 

in paragraph (b) of this section; 

(2) The number of servings per 

container; 

(3) The alcohol content, under the 

conditions of paragraph (c) of this 

section; 

(4) The number of fluid ounces of 

pure ethyl alcohol per serving, when 

required by paragraph (d) of this 

section; 

(5) The number of calories per 

serving; and 

(6) The number, in grams per serving, 

of carbohydrates, fat, and protein. 

(b) Single serving size and servings 

per container—(1) Definition. The term 

‘‘single serving size’’ or ‘‘serving size’’ 

means an amount of the malt beverage 

customarily consumed as a single 

serving, expressed in U.S. fluid ounces 

and, in parentheses, in milliliters (mL), 

to the nearest whole number. This 

amount is not a recommended amount, 

but rather is only a reference amount to 

help consumers determine nutrient, 

alcohol, and calorie intake. The single 

serving size reference amounts for malt 

beverages are: 

TABLE 1 TO PARAGRAPH(b)(1) 

For products 

containing: 

a single serving size 

is: 

Not more than 7% 

alc/vol.

12 fluid ounces (355 

mL). 

Over 7% and not 

more than 16% alc/ 

vol.

5 fluid ounces (148 

mL). 

Over 16% and not 

more than 24% alc/ 

vol.

2.5 fluid ounces (74 

mL). 

Over 24% alc/vol ....... 1.5 fluid ounces (44 

mL). 

(2) Single-serving containers. Malt 

beverages packaged and sold in 

containers with a net content of less 

than 200 percent of a single serving size 

reference amount described in this 

section must be labeled as containing a 

single serving, and a single serving size 

is the net content of the container. 

(3) Multi-serving containers. Products 

packaged and sold in containers with a 

net content of 200 percent or more of 

the applicable single serving size 

reference amount described in this 

section will be considered to be in 

multi-serving containers, and the 

number of servings per container must 

be labeled to the nearest one-quarter 

serving. 

(c) Alcohol content. For malt 

beverages with an alcohol content of at 

least 0.5 percent alcohol by volume, the 

Alcohol Facts statement must include 

the alcohol content as a percentage of 

alcohol by volume rounded to the 

nearest tenth of a percent, subject to the 

tolerances set forth in § 7.65(c). For malt 

beverages containing less than 0.5 

percent alcohol by volume, alcohol 

content may be expressed in the 

Alcohol Facts statement either as a 

percentage of alcohol by volume, or by 

use of the designation ‘‘non-alcoholic’’ 

or ‘‘alcohol free’’ in accordance with the 

tolerances and other conditions set forth 

in § 7.65(c), (e), and (f). 

(d) Alcohol expressed in fluid ounces. 

For malt beverages with an alcohol 

content of at least 0.5 percent alcohol by 

volume, the Alcohol Facts statement 

must express the number of U.S. fluid 

ounces of pure ethyl alcohol per serving 

to the nearest tenth of an ounce. The 

declaration of alcohol in fluid ounces 

per serving is calculated from the 

percent-by-volume alcohol content 

declaration. For example, 5 fl oz of a 

beverage with 12 percent alcohol by 

volume would have 0.6 fl oz of pure 

ethyl alcohol, while 5 fl oz of a beverage 

with 14 percent alcohol by volume 

would have 0.7 fl oz of pure ethyl 

alcohol. 

(e) Calories. Calorie statements may 

be expressed to the nearest calorie, or 

may be rounded to the nearest 10- 

calorie increment (for per-serving 

amounts above 50 calories) or the 

nearest 5-calorie increment (for perserving amounts up to 50 calories), 

subject to the tolerances set forth in 

§ 7.214. An amount less than 5 calories 

may be expressed as zero. 

(f) Carbohydrate. (1) The Alcohol 

Facts statement must express the 

number of grams of total carbohydrates 

in a serving to the nearest gram, except 

that if a serving contains less than 1 

gram, the statement ‘‘less than 1 gram’’ 

may be used as an alternative, and if the 

serving contains less than 0.5 gram, the 

content may be expressed as zero. 


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(2) The Alcohol Facts statement may 

optionally express the number of grams 

of total sugars in a serving to the nearest 

gram, except that if a serving contains 

less than 1 gram, the statement ‘‘less 

than 1 gram’’ may be used as an 

alternative, and if the serving contains 

less than 0.5 g of sugar, the content may 

be expressed as zero. 

(g) Fat. The Alcohol Facts statement 

must express the number of grams of 

total fat in a serving (with total fat 

defined as total lipid fatty acids and 

expressed as triglycerides) to the nearest 

0.5 (1⁄2) gram increment below 5 grams 

and to the nearest gram increment at or 

above 5 grams. If the serving contains 

less than 0.5 gram, the content may be 

expressed as zero. 

(h) Protein. The Alcohol Facts 

statement must express protein content 

in grams per serving to the nearest gram, 

except that if a serving contains less 

than 1 gram, the statement ‘‘Contains 

less than 1 gram’’ or ‘‘less than 1 gram’’ 

may be used as an alternative, and if the 

serving contains less than 0.5 gram, the 

protein content may be expressed as 

zero. 

§ 7.212 Format for the Alcohol Facts 

statement. 

The Alcohol Facts statement must be 

presented in either a panel or a linear 

format, and the presentation must 

conform to the formatting specifications 

in this section. For malt beverage 

containers with a net content of at least 

200 percent and less than 500 percent 

of the applicable single serving size 

reference amount described in § 7.211, 

as an option, the Alcohol Facts 

statement may be presented in a dualcolumn panel which sets forth the 

required information per serving and 

per container, as illustrated by 

paragraph (k) of this section. 

(a) The panel or linear display must 

be set off within a box by use of 

hairlines with all black or one color 

type, printed on a contrasting 

background. 

(b) All information within the box 

must appear in a single, easy-to-read 

type style using both upper case and 

lower case letters. The type or printing 

must be at least 1 millimeter in height 

for containers of 1⁄2 pint (8 U.S. fluid 

ounces or 237 mL) or less and no 

smaller than 2 millimeters in height for 

containers of more than 1⁄2 pint (8 U.S. 

fluid ounces or 237 mL). 

(c) Bold face is required for the title 

‘‘Alcohol Facts’’ and for the heading 

‘‘Amount Per Serving’’ and is optional 

for the headings ‘‘Alcohol by volume,’’ 

‘‘Calories,’’ ‘‘Carbohydrate,’’ ‘‘Sugar’’ (if 

used), ‘‘Fat,’’ and ‘‘Protein.’’ 

(d) The Alcohol Facts statement must 

appear in the panel or linear format in 

the following order: 

(1) Serving size; 

(2) Servings per container; 

(3) Percentage of alcohol by volume; 

(4) U.S. fluid ounces of pure ethyl 

alcohol per serving. If a panel format is 

used, the U.S. fluid ounces of pure ethyl 

alcohol per serving must be indented 

directly under the percent-by-volume 

alcohol content declaration (see the 

example in paragraph (g) of this 

section); 

(5) Calories; 

(6) Carbohydrate; 

(7) Sugar (if used); 

(8) Fat; and 

(9) Protein. 

(e) The following abbreviations or 

shortened expressions may be used, 

with or without a period: 

(1) For percentage of alcohol by 

volume, the percent symbol ‘‘%’’, 

‘‘Alcohol by volume’’, ‘‘Alc/vol’’ or ‘‘Alc 

by vol’’; 

(2) For U.S. fluid ounces, ‘‘fl oz’’; 

(3) For grams, ‘‘g’’; 

(4) For carbohydrate, ‘‘Carb’’; 

(5) For serving, ‘‘Serv.’’; 

(6) For milliliter, ‘‘mL’’; and 

(7) For amount, ‘‘Amt.’’. 

(f) The expression of decimal amounts 

less than 1 must include a zero prior to 

the decimal point (for example, 0.5 fl 

oz). 

(g) The following Alcohol Facts 

statement illustrates an acceptable panel 

display for a 24 fluid ounce bottle of a 

malt beverage containing 5 percent 

alcohol by volume. 


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Figure 1 to Paragraph (g) 

(h) The following Alcohol Facts 

statement illustrates an acceptable panel 

display for a 12 fluid ounce bottle of a non-alcoholic malt beverage containing 

less than 0.5 percent alcohol by volume. 


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6702 Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 11 / Friday, January 17, 2025 / Proposed Rules 

Figure 2 to Paragraph (h) 

(i) The following Alcohol Facts 

statement illustrates an acceptable panel 

display for an 18 fluid ounce bottle of 

a malt beverage containing 5 percent 

alcohol by volume. The container has a 

net content of less than 200 percent of 

a single serving size reference amount 

and thus is labeled as containing a 

single serving. 


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Figure 3 to Paragraph (i) 

(j) The following Alcohol Facts 

statement illustrates an acceptable 

linear display for a 12 fluid ounce can of a malt beverage containing 4 percent 

alcohol by volume. 


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Figure 4 to Paragraph (j) 

(k) The following Alcohol Facts 

statement illustrates an acceptable dualcolumn panel display for a 24 fluid ounce can of a malt beverage containing 

12 percent alcohol by volume. 


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Figure 5 to Paragraph (k) 

§ 7.213 Placement of the Alcohol Facts 

statement. 

The Alcohol Facts statement may be 

presented in either a horizontal or 

vertical orientation. 

§ 7.214 Tolerance levels. 

(a) General. The following tolerance 

levels apply to labeling statements of 

calorie, carbohydrate (including sugar), 

protein, fat, and alcohol content for malt 

beverages: 

(1) Calorie content. A tolerance of 20 

percent either above or below the stated 

calorie content is permitted. For 

example, a label showing 100 calories 

per serving is acceptable if the product 

has a calorie content of between 80 and 

120 calories per serving. 

(2) Carbohydrate (including sugar) 

and protein content. A tolerance of 20 

percent either above or below the stated 

carbohydrate, sugar, and protein content 

is permitted. For example, a label 

showing 7 grams of carbohydrates per 

serving is acceptable if the product has 

a carbohydrate content of between 5.6 

and 8.4 grams per serving. 

(3) Fat content. A tolerance of 20 

percent either above or below the stated 

fat content is permitted. For example, a 

label showing 7 grams of fat per serving 

is acceptable if the product has a fat 

content of between 5.6 and 8.4 grams 

per serving. 

(4) Alcohol content. The tolerances for 

alcohol content specified in § 7.65 

apply. The declaration of alcohol in 

fluid ounces per serving is calculated 

from the percent-by-volume alcohol 

content declaration. 

(b) Publication of analytical methods. 

TTB will maintain on its website 

(https://www.ttb.gov) information 

regarding the methods it uses to validate 

calorie, carbohydrate, protein, fat, and 

alcohol content statements. 

PART 24—WINE 

■ 17. The authority citation for part 24 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552(a); 26 U.S.C. 5001, 

5008, 5041, 5042, 5044, 5061, 5062, 5121, 

5122–5124, 5173, 5206, 5214, 5215, 5351, 

5353, 5354, 5356, 5357, 5361, 5362, 5364– 

5373, 5381–5388, 5391, 5392, 5511, 5551, 

5552, 5661, 5662, 5684, 6065, 6091, 6109, 

6301, 6302, 6311, 6651, 6676, 7302, 7342, 

7502, 7503, 7606, 7805, 7851; 31 U.S.C. 9301, 

9303, 9304, 9306. 

■ 18. In § 24.257, revise paragraph (a)(3) 

to read as follows: 

§ 24.257 Labeling wine containers. 

(a) * * * 

(3) The alcohol content as a 

percentage of alcohol by volume. For 

wines with 7 percent or more alcohol by 

volume, the tolerance levels set forth in 

§ 4.36 of this chapter apply. For wines 

with less than 7 percent alcohol by 

volume stated on the label, an alcohol 

content tolerance of plus or minus 0.75 

percentage points is allowed; and 

* * * * * 

PART 25—BEER 

■ 19. The authority citation for part 25 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 19 U.S.C. 81c; 26 U.S.C. 5002, 

5051–5054, 5056, 5061, 5121, 5122–5124, 

5222, 5401–5403, 5411–5417, 5551, 5552, 

5555, 5556, 5671, 5673, 5684, 6011, 6061, 

6065, 6091, 6109, 6151, 6301, 6302, 6311, 

6313, 6402, 6651, 6656, 6676, 6806, 7342, 

7606, 7805; 31 U.S.C. 9301, 9303–9308. 

■ 20. In § 25.141, amend paragraph (a) 

by adding two sentences prior to the last 

sentence to read as follows: 

§ 25.141 Barrels and kegs. 

(a) * * * The barrel or keg must also 

show by label the alcohol content 

expressed as a percentage of alcohol by 

volume, rounded to the nearest tenth of 

a percentage point. A tolerance of one 

percentage point is permitted, either 

above or below the stated percentage of 

alcohol by volume, except that neither 

the labeled or actual alcohol content 

may be less than 0.5 percent alcohol by 

volume, regardless of any tolerance. 

* * * 

* * * * * 

■ 21. In § 25.142, amend paragraph (a) 

by adding two sentences prior to the last 

sentence to read as follows: 

§ 25.142 Bottles. 

(a) * * * The bottle must also show 

by label the alcohol content expressed 

as a percentage of alcohol by volume, 

rounded to the nearest tenth of a 

percentage point. A tolerance of one 

percentage point is permitted, either 

above or below the stated percentage of 

alcohol by volume; except that neither 

the labeled or actual alcohol content 

may be less than 0.5 percent alcohol by 

volume, regardless of any tolerance. 

* * * 

* * * * * 

PART 27—IMPORTATION OF 

DISTILLED SPIRITS, WINES, AND 

BEER 

■ 22. The authority citation for part 27 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552(a), 19 U.S.C. 81c, 

1202; 26 U.S.C. 5001, 5007, 5008, 5010, 5041, 

5051, 5054, 5061, 5121, 5122–5124, 5201, 

5205, 5207, 5232, 5273, 5301, 5313, 5382, 

5555, 6038E, 6065, 6109, 6302, 7805. 

■ 23. In § 27.59, remove paragraph (a), 

redesignate paragraph (b) as paragraph 

(d), add new paragraphs (a) and (b), and 

add paragraph (c) to read as follows: 

§ 27.59 Wines. 

(a) Label requirements. Each container 

of imported wine shall be marked or 

labeled with the following information: 

(1) The name and address of the 

importer; 


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(2) The brand name, if different from 

above; 

(3) The alcohol content expressed as 

a percentage of alcohol by volume. For 

wines with 7 percent or more alcohol by 

volume, the tolerance levels set forth in 

§ 4.36 of this chapter apply. For 

imported wines with less than 7 percent 

alcohol by volume, an alcohol content 

tolerance of plus or minus 0.75 

percentage points is allowed; 

(4) The kind of wine, in accordance 

with the standards set forth in § 24.257 

of this chapter; and 

(5) The net contents of the container, 

unless the net content is permanently 

marked on the container as provided in 

27 CFR part 4. 

(b) Federal Alcohol Administration 

Act requirements. All imported wines 

containing not less than 7 percent and 

not more than 24 percent of alcohol by 

volume are required to be packaged, 

marked, branded, and labeled in 

conformity with the Federal Alcohol 

Administration Act (FAA Act) and 

regulations promulgated thereunder (27 

CFR part 4), prior to their removal from 

customs custody. Containers of 

imported wine bottled or packaged after 

tax payment and withdrawal from 

customs custody are required to be 

covered by a certificate of label approval 

or a certificate of exemption from label 

approval on TTB Form 5100.31 issued 

pursuant to the FAA Act and 

regulations promulgated thereunder (27 

CFR part 4). 

(c) Customs requirements. Imported 

containers of wine are required also to 

be marked, branded and labeled in 

accordance with customs regulations 

(19 CFR parts 11 and 12). 

* * * * * 

■ 24. Revise § 27.60 to read as follows: 

§ 27.60 Beer. 

(a) Label requirements. Each container 

of beer shall be marked or labeled with 

the following information: the name and 

address of the importer, the net contents 

of the container, the nature of the 

product (such as beer, ale, porter, or 

stout), and the alcohol content, 

expressed as a percentage of alcohol by 

volume. 

(b) Federal Alcohol Administration 

Act requirements. All imported malt 

beverages are required to be released 

from customs custody in conformity 

with the Federal Alcohol 

Administration Act (FAA Act) and 

regulations thereunder. The regulations 

under the FAA Act on the labeling and 

advertising of malt beverages may be 

found in 27 CFR part 7. 

(c) Customs requirements. Imported 

containers of beer are required to be 

marked and labeled in accordance with 

customs regulations (19 CFR parts 11 

and 12). 

Signed: January 10, 2025. 

Mary G. Ryan, 

Administrator. 

Approved: January 10, 2025. 

Aviva Aron-Dine, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary (Tax Policy). 

[FR Doc. 2025–00957 Filed 1–16–25; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–31–P 


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