Nutrition Labels on Alcohol? It’s the Company’s Choice

Alcohol beverages soon could have nutritional labels like those on food packaging, but only if the producers want to put them there. The Associated Press reports that the Treasury Department, which regulates alcohol, said last week that beer, wine and spirits companies can use labels that include serving size, servings per container, calories, carbohydrates, protein and fat per serving. Such package labels have never before been approved. The labels are voluntary, so it will be up to beverage companies to decide whether to use them on their products. The decision is a temporary, first step while the Alcohol and Tobacco Trade and Tax Bureau continues to consider final rules on alcohol labels. Rules proposed in 2007 would have made labels mandatory, but the agency never made the rules final.