Beer Institute sought to change a Food & Drug Administration rule that, BI said, “puts the wine and beer segments within the alcoholic beverage industry at an unfair advantage and does a disservice to consumers.”
BI’s comments came in a filing that supported extension of the compliance date for restaurants and other food service venues to provide nutrition information regarding alcoholic beverages.
“BI views the inclusion of calorie and other nutritional information on restaurant and other food retailer menus to be of great importance to the American consumer, particularly when pairing food with alcohol beverages,” the trade group said.
While supportive of the rule, BI said additional clarification is needed in five areas.
First, it supports listing calories for each individual brand of beer, glass or bottle of wine and each drink made with distilled spirits on an alcohol drink menu. “Providing complete caloric and other nutrient information for each drink will better enable the consumer to make an informed choice about their diets should they choose to include an alcohol beverage with a meal,” BI said, opposing exempting bar-made drinks, such as cocktails, that aren’t on the menu from the calorie and nutritional labeling information.
Requiring each cocktail to have its caloric information made visible should give beer an edge over distilled spirits for drinkers who care about such things . . . our opinion. For example, while a standard drink of distilled spirits has just 97 calories, well below the calories in Budweiser (145), Blue Moon (171) or Sam Adams Boston Lager (160), a gin and tonic has 171 calories, rum and cola has 154, a Black Russian has 244, a screwdriver has 181, and a Zombie has an eye-popping 371 calories.
Second, BI said it strongly opposed “the use of a single, limited disclosure based on averages for all beer, wine or drinks made with distilled spirits,” instead supporting disclosures that “reflect portion sizes as well as any added ingredients (such as mixers) in alcohol beverages.”
Third, it noted that its members, who represent 81% of the volume of beer sold in the U.S., all have agreed to comply with the Brewer’s Voluntary Disclosure Initiative by 2020.
Fourth, BI opposed FDA’s proposal to require beers on tap to round calories to the nearest 5- or 10-calorie increment. “Many covered establishments offer the same beers on tap in the same serving sizes as cans or bottles, which may also be offered for sale in those establishments,” BI said.
“BI and its members are committed to disclosing exact calorie and other nutrient information on their labels and secondary packaging,” the association said. (Emphasis added.) One can easily envision a situation in which a covered establishment offering a beer on tap in the same serving size as the bottle or can would be required to disclose two different calories declaration if both the beer on tap and bottle or can of beer are standard menu items.”
Finally, BI called for clarification on whether the rule also applies to roaming beer sellers within a stadium or arena.