Is this really necessary ?

I mean come one…..unless they are claiming it is healthy, lite or Low Carb….who really cares?

And to Food Activist Marion Nestle, who said “Alcohol has calories and calories are an enormous issue”, no shit……now get out of my liquor cabinet you HIPPIE!

Alcohol industry grapples with nutrition labeling

SAN FRANCISCO — - Pick up just about any beverage on store shelves and on the back of the packaging you’ll find a numerical rundown of calories, carbs, etc.

Unless, that is, the beverage is alcohol.

Some folks want to change that.

A proposal being considered by the federal Tax and Trade Bureau asks for the nutrition labels found on nearly all food and beverages also be included on alcoholic beverages where they are presently absent. Several alcohol industry businesses and organizations including Diageo North America, the world's leading distilled spirits, beer and wine company, support some type of labeling.

“In the year 2011, it’s sort of bizarre that alcohol’s the only consumable product sold in the United States that you can’t tell what’s inside the bottle,” says Guy L. Smith, executive vice president in North America for Diageo, the world’s leading distilled spirits, beer and wine company.

Diageo is supporting a proposal presently before the federal Tax and Trade Bureau – the agency with authority over alcohol labels – to list nutrition information such as calories, carbohydrates, serving size and alcohol per serving.

But not everyone in the industry is as enthusiastic.

At the Beer Institute, a trade association based in Washington, D.C., officials support listing calories, carbs, protein and fat content, as well as alcohol by volume. But they oppose the idea of defining serving size by fluid ounces of pure alcohol, or as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor, on the grounds that you may get more than 1.5 ounces of liquor in a cocktail depending on what else is in the drink and the accuracy of the bartender.

But Smith says consumers know when they’re getting a large martini. The point is, he says, to give them a point of reference so they can generally know what to expect.

At the San Francisco-based Wine Institute, officials are asking that the labeling requirements be on a voluntary basis only. (Diageo also supports voluntary compliance.)

If labeling is made mandatory, then the Wine Institute is asking for accommodations, such as being allowed to generalize the calorie and carb counts on wine, rather than needing to have each vintage of each variety analyzed. Additionally, they want the option of choosing the style of label, perhaps putting the information on a thin strip-style label rather than the more traditional (and much larger) box format that appears on other foods and drinks.

“There shouldn’t be a significant cost impact on wineries,” says Wendell Lee, general counsel for the institute.

It’s unclear when federal officials might rule. Agency spokesman Tom Hogue said the Tax and Trade Bureau is working on the issue, but it’s a complicated one that doesn’t lend itself to a quick solution.

The current push for nutrition information was started in late 2003 by a coalition of consumer and public health advocates. Diageo announced its support for the move at the time and last December issued a statement calling on officials to rule.

The Distilled Spirits Council, based in Washington, also supports putting serving information on bottles.

Current labeling law is complicated.

Wine, beer and liquor manufacturers don’t have to list ingredients – and the nutritional labeling proposals being considered don’t require them to start doing that. However, they must list substances people might be sensitive to, such as sulfites, FD&C Yellow No. 5 and aspartame.

Wines containing 14 percent or more alcohol by volume must list alcohol content. Wines that are 7 percent to 14 percent alcohol by volume may list alcohol content or put “light” or “table” wine on the label. (Most wines in that category, however, do list alcohol by volume.)

“Light” beers must list calorie and carbohydrate content only. Liquor must list alcohol content by volume and may also list proof.

Food activist Marion Nestle, who researched the laws while writing about calories, was stunned by their piecemeal nature. She doesn’t see the point of listing protein, fat and carb content of alcohol, since it contains none or little of those, but would like to see labels that list the amount of alcohol, number of calories, number of servings in the bottle and ingredients.

“Alcohol has calories and calories are an enormous issue,” she says.

Read more: http://www.thestate.com/2011/01/22/1657531/alcohol-industry-grapples-with.html#ixzz1BpQXB76a