The Federal Alcohol Administration Act (“FAA”) regulates the interstate and foreign commerce of wine, spirits, and malt beverages and bestows general authority to oversee these products to the TTB. Despite this, the labeling of some beers and some wines are regulated by the FDA. The beers and wines that are subject to FDA’s labeling jurisdiction fall outside the FAA’s definitions of wine and malt beverage.
The following alcohol beverage products fall within FDA’s labeling jurisdiction and are subject to FDA labeling requirements:
- Wines that contain less than 7% alcohol by volume including (but not limited to) grape wine, sparkling or carbonated wine, fruit wine, saké, wine coolers, cider, and dealcoholized or partially dealcoholized wine.
- Beers that are not made from both malted barley and hops (but are instead made from a malted barley substitutes such as corn, rice, or wheat) or are made without hops. Examples are kombucha and gluten-free beer.
(Not an exhaustive list.)
FDA labeling regulations generally require statements such as Nutrition Facts Panels and ingredients statements to appear on products, which can be new or different territory for many alcohol beverage companies. Also unique is that there is no pre-market label approval for these products. This is one of the many reasons why we strongly recommend that alcohol beverage companies have their labels reviewed by a professional who understands FDA labeling regulations and how they apply to these types of beverages.
For more information about this topic, contact Robert Lehrman.
