Responding to requests from industry members, Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau eased its tolerances for calorie statements in advertising and food labels. The new tolerances is more in line with the FDA tolerance for labeled calorie statements.
The FDA food labeling regulations provide that subject to certain exceptions, a food with a label declaration of calories is deemed to be misbranded if the calorie content is greater than 20% in excess of the value stated on the label. while the TTB regulations provide just a 5% variation.
The industry members noted that broader tolerances for calorie content would encourage voluntary nutrient statements in labeling and advertising bev/al both by allowing for expanded variations in calorie content between batches of a product and by facilitating the use of databases and “typical value” charts in lieu of laboratory analysis as a basis for nutrient content statements.
TTB Procedure 2020-1, issued yesterday, provides a calorie statement on a label or in an advertisement will be acceptable as long as the calorie content, as determined by TTB analysis, is within a reasonable range below the labeled or advertised amount (within good manufacturing practice limitations) but may not be more than 20 percent above the labeled or advertised amount.
The revised procedure also permits industry members to round calorie content statements to the nearest 10-calorie increment for per-serving amounts about 50% and to the nearest 5 calorie increment for serving amounts up to 50 calories.
TTB noted the new ruling doesn’t change tolerances for other nutrients. It does, however, permit industry members to rely on databases or “typical value” charts to determine nutrient content values for the labeling and advertising of alcohol beverages.