U.S. government proposes alcohol labeling rules to advance transparency, health, and safety

Today, the Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau published two proposed rules to provide consumers with better information about the contents of alcoholic beverages. One rule, which is similar to a Nutrition Facts label for alcohol, requires new disclosures regarding alcohol and nutritional content, including the percent alcohol by volume, alcohol content in fluid ounces, calories, carbohydrates, fat, and protein. Sugar is also allowed, but optional. The other requires disclosure of major food allergens. None of this information is currently required on the great majority of alcohol labels in the United States. The proposals represent a momentous step toward ensuring consumers have access to the information they need to make informed choices, follow health guidelines, and avoid allergic reactions.

To date, companies have been allowed to provide alcohol content, nutrition, and allergen information voluntarily, but a CSPI study of labels from top brands in 2021 found a limited number of companies were utilizing the voluntary labels, underscoring the need for a mandatory policy. A national poll of 1,500 adults who drink, conducted in March 2024, found that a majority support policies to require alcohol content, calorie, nutrition, allergen, and ingredient information on alcoholic beverages.

Excess alcohol consumption is linked to 178,000 deaths each year from various harms including motor vehicle accidents, liver disease, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers. Alcoholic beverages account for 9 percent of total calorie intake among U.S. adults who drink and can contain high amounts of sugar and saturated fat. Alcohol content, calorie, and nutrition information can assist consumers with monitoring their alcohol intake to reduce health and safety risks and avoid unwanted weight gain and chronic disease. Allergen disclosures on alcoholic beverages will be a gamechanger for the 11 percent of U.S. adults with food allergies who rely on labels to prevent reactions that can be life-threatening.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest filed a Citizen Petition calling for increased alcohol labeling transparency in 2003 and sued the Treasury Department in 2022 for 19 years of inaction on that petition. We welcome the publication of these two groundbreaking rules and urge the incoming administration to release a third notice regarding ingredient labeling that remains under review at the White House Office of Management and Budget. These rules are consistent with the incoming administration’s avowed efforts to address diet-related chronic illness by equipping consumers with the information they need to make safer and healthier choices.