organic/vegan/green

In 10 years and 579 posts we’ve covered so many things approved by TTB. Today, and in the near future, we will mix it up and try to cover “basic” things not approved by TTB.

First up, the Non-GMO butterfly seal, as above. LabelVision shows precisely zero label approvals, with this seal. This is the sort of thing LabelVision would pick up right away, because it’s great and essential software. I am thinking about this, this morning, due to a provocative article in today’s Wall Street Journal. As to the butterfly seal flying all around just about any food store you may enter:

The “Non-GMO Project” butterfly label emblazons more than 55,000 organic and nonorganic products on supermarket shelves today—many of which have no GMO counterpart or couldn’t possibly contain GMOs. The clear purpose of these labels, as one peer-reviewed academic study found, is to “stigmatize food produced with conventional processes even when there is no scientific evidence that they cause harm, or even that it is compositionally any different.” The labels and anti-genetic-engineering propaganda are effective. Another recent study found nearly half of consumers avoid GMO-labeled foods.

The article weirdly calls for a lot more and stricter regulation, coming from the free market side of the debate. The article is by Dr....

Maybe John has been asleep at the switch, but this is one of the first vegan beers we have seen come down the pike. Rebecca’s Divine Wit is Vegan Beer Brewed with Oranges and Coriander. Wikipedia (not Wikileaks) says veganism is:

a philosophy and lifestyle whose adherents seek to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose. Vegans endeavor to never consume or use any animal products of any type. The most common reasons for becoming, or remaining, vegan are moral conviction concerning animal rights or welfare, health, environmental concerns, and spiritual or religious concerns.

I suppose some beers have a bit of animal matter, in the form of isinglass or gelatin. This site explains and provides a helpful guidepost. So far as we know, TTB treats this term more like “biodynamic” or “premium” and less like “organic” or “Meritage.” Perhaps, when there are more vegan labels for alcohol beverages, the policy will get more clear. For a wine example, here is Flint Hills Red Wine (“for vegan enjoyment”).

Franzia’s been mighty busy. Franzia’s recent labels proclaim “The World’s Most Popular Wine.” That’s a lot of bag-in-box and other packages. The label goes further to claim this wine is “also the World’s most cost and carbon efficient wine.” There is a nice chart with pretty icons to support this claim at least in part. The brand owner has explained:

The wine industry is perhaps the most vulnerable of any food and beverage producer to “carbon criticism,” due to its historical reliance on heavyweight glass packaging and its failure to migrate to more environmentally sensitive packages. … As the world’s leader in Bag-In-Box (BIB) packaging, [The Wine Group, Inc.] is in a unique position to assist retailers with innovative 3L and 5L BIB packages that eliminate the freshness trade-off associated with most other forms of alternative packaging. … The Wine Group is taking aggressive measures to reduce overall energy consumption by our wineries, and leading the industry to implement local bottling of imported and exported wine. This reduces carbon emissions through unnecessary transportation of heavy glass,” said [David Kent, CEO].

This packaging consortium has a good FAQ about the environmental issues but still it would be good to see more sources and evidence.