If the above sounds grotesque, you may need to get used to it. Egg whites, fish protein and milk are commonly used in alcohol beverages. New allergen rules may require much more frequent disclosure, on many more labels in the near future. TTB’s qualification says “The disclosure of allergens used in this product is voluntary, pending final rulemaking (See Notice No. 62, 71 FR 42329).”
TTB is highly unlikely to approve John McCain beer anytime soon. Not because he can’t win. But because TTB is reluctant to approve labels referring to Presidents of the United States. Despite this, many companies come very close to this line. Above is Obama Ale. Here is an Illinois wine celebrating the debate between Lincoln and Douglas. And some might see our current President here.
Wine and brandy don’t seem especially sinful to us. But that apparently doesn’t stop lots of companies from portraying these products as evil or sinful. TTB approves about 100,000 alcohol beverage products per year, year in and year out, and a large percentage of these come equipped with references to sin, the devil, skulls and crossbones, and illegality. The Cognac above gets right to the point, branding itself illegal. And here is the original sin (apple wine).
In mid-2007, TTB began allowing absinthe to flow again, after absinthe had been banned in much of the world for almost 100 years. First there was a trickle of absinthe back into the US (Kubler and Lucid) and then there was a stream (with about six brands allowed as of one year later).
The Virtual Absinthe Museum explains what happened, and the role we are proud to have played in this matter from 2003-2008. (Archive of this now-defunct link: www.oxygenee.com/absinthe-america/legalization.html.)
TTB sets forth position on absinthe.
Let us know if you hear of other brands approved for US sale, or on the way. It will be fun to watch and see whether the stream grows into a river, or dries up over the next hundred years.
Updated 4/08
Allergen Labeling. The age-old wine label is getting more complicated by the year what with Organics, Meritage, Import Certification — and the new allergen labeling requirements.
Allergen Labeling is on the way – On July 26, 2006, TTB began allowing allergen information on labels for beer, wine and spirits. For now and the next several months at least, allergen labeling is voluntary. But if you elect to make any reference to any of the eight “major food allergens,” you would need to comply with the interim rule, and you would probably need to get a new label approval. The “major food allergens” are: milk, egg, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, soybeans, and their proteins. The interim rule does not seem to have any special treatment if producer is very small, or if the amount of the allergen is very small. By way of example, many wines contain fish proteins as a fining agent. The bottler is not required to say anything about these proteins under current rules, but if the bottler elects to say anything about allergens, the bottler would need to list every allergen in the wine, as CONTAINS: FISH. This could be on any label (front, back, side, neck). By the same token, if you describe your product as WHEAT BEER rather than BEER, you would probably need to get a new label approval and declare CONTAINS: WHEAT on the label.
