policy

Here is Bacmar’s use-up approval for Voyant Liqueur. It almost single-handedly proves it is not a good idea to print labels prior to TTB label approval. It looks painful and seems to have consumed a good part of Mr. Back’s spring and summer, from the April 2009 date of application until approval in July of the same year. The approval in all its fullness and glory, is here. In decades past, it was relatively easy to get “use-ups” (aka temporary approvals). But it seems to be getting harder and harder. In the 1990s it was a simple matter of asking, face to face. Now it can easily take more time, money and resources than the forlorn product is worth. The Voyant approval probably shows how hard it can be. On the other extreme, this Skyy approval tends to show how quickly it can go, and then Jumbie is somewhere in the middle. TTB’s main use-up policy is here. We like to think we’ve helped many companies avoid a Back-breaking struggle with TTB. In some situations, though, it can be difficult to avoid.

You can probably find some examples of American flags on TTB labels. But TTB usually does not allow it, and for that reason you won’t find one on this label. Manchester Brewing explains:

The feds forced us to remove part of the American flag, and replace the stars with a hammer and sickle. It’s the law, doesn’t have to make any sense. Originally, the Kombat ale was a Special Bitter, but it’s moved a bit beyond that.

A better view of the modified flag is here. Is it any wonder that TTB rejected a bunch of Manchester’s labels? Manchester goes on to explain:

Smacked Down by The Man! The TTB rejected all of our labels! One had a flag over the capitol; it was an American flag but that’s not allowed — so we put a Hammer and Sickle where the stars go, and that’s ok. Also, we used OMFG! on another label, and the government decided that was obscene, even though we protested that it meant Oh My Fairy Godmother and told them we were sticking to that story. So now it says “Censored” over the OMFG, and people tell me they find that funnier.

Taurine has been widely used in alcohol beverages for about ten years. One of the early approvals is Hard E Malt Beverage with Taurine, as above. Another early example is Sparks with Caffeine, Taurine, Guarana and Ginseng, from a few months later. Taurine showed up in TTB/ATF products around 2001, a few years after Red Bull hit the US. Red Bull famously contains taurine as well as caffeine and B vitamins. Some, like CSPI, have said taurine is of dubious legitimacy in food, but this article points out that Red Bull sells the beverage, with taurine, in well over 130 countries. The US of course is among those countries and there is no big sign of FDA concern. France had banned Red Bull with taurine for many years but began allowing it in April of 2008. On this occasion, the company said:

Last year alone, over three and a half billion cans and bottles of Red Bull energy drink were consumed in over 143 countries across the world and no one anywhere has ever shown any link between [the product] and harmful effects. Red Bull could only have such global sales because health authorities across the world have concluded that [it] is safe to consume.

The term is derived from “taurus,” Latin...