McClatchy : Feds seek nutrition labels on alcohol

[babylonsister]

:crazy: :crazy:


Feds seek nutrition labels on alcohol
By Michael Doyle | McClatchy Newspapers

* Posted on Tue, July 31, 2007

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WASHINGTON — Beer, wine and other alcoholic beverage labels would be loaded up with mandatory nutrition and alcohol-content information under a new Bush administration proposal.

For the first time, all alcohol labels would list calories, fat, protein and carbohydrates. They would include the percent of alcohol by volume. And with separate "Serving Facts" panels, alcohol labels would more closely resemble those found on other foods.

"We believe that this information should be presented to consumers in a uniform, standardized format that is prominent on the label, so that consumers may easily avail themselves of this important information," the Treasury Department said when posting its proposed rule in the Federal Register.

Beer, wine and liquor would all be covered by the new label requirements, proposed Tuesday by the Treasury Department's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. The label proposal has been years in the making, and the fight isn't over yet.

The Beer Institute, the brewers' national lobby, has fought to keep the alcohol content labels voluntary, saying consumers already know what they need.

"The alcohol content of most beer is in a very narrow range, and consumers are generally aware of that fact," the Beer Institute stated.

Mom-and-pop vintners agree.

"I'd hate to have to do it," Leon Sobon, founder of the small, family-owned Shenandoah Vineyards in California's Amador County, said Tuesday. "I think it's completely unnecessary."

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/18565.html

[Cooley Hurd]

1. Booze makes me strong!

:crazy:;)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. Fine with me.

There are a lot of calories in a lot of drinks. I'll bet there's a lot of sodium in some of them too.

[WindRavenX]

5. Most Long-Island Iced Teas have around 800 calories

When I found that out, I nearly passed out :(

[TomInTib]

7. "nearly passed out"

Now that's funny!

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. Not surprised as it's an iced tea.

I'd also wonder about white russians, mudslides, bloody marys... stuck pigs...

My favorite, erm, drink is a mouthful of hershey's syrup, with a peppermint schnapps chaser. I call it the diabeetus. No idea how it'd be labelled.

[WindRavenX]

11. "diabeetus"

:rofl:

FWIW, most shots of vodka have around 60 calories, so that's what I usually have: iced orange stoli on the rocks with a wedge of fruit. I'd imagine schnapps alone has a bunch of sugar though.

Although I have a terrible, terrible weakness for margaritas...and most of the mixers for that are loaded with sugar.

[tandot]

20. I just found a Margarita Mixer with Splenda

Splenda is a sweetener derived from sugar but not absorbed by the body.

I love vodka and lemon juice and sweeten all my drinks with splenda.



Baja Bob's Low Carb Margarita (32 OZ)

[WindRavenX]

22. NICE

Thanks for the recommendation! :thumbsup:

[bunnies]

19. Actually, there is ZERO tea in a long island iced tea!

the drink is primarily booze. Its: vodka, tequila, rum, gin, triple sec, sweet and sour mix and a splash of Coke. 800 calories seems a lot for that!

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

21. Yeah, but it's iced.

Err.. um... it's a sweet drink. Like iced tea. That's why it's popular. If you've that much booze, and it's that sweet, there needs to be lots of sugar.

"800 calories seems a lot for that!"

Not when you consider that rum is made from molasses, coke is mostly sugar, and sweet and sour is 50% sweet.

[Trillo]

3. Since alcohol is excreted relatively unchanged in the urine,

one can presume that the intake calories do not tell the whole story.

[RC]

4. Sooo, what's up with this?

They are trying to scale back in the nutritional labels on our food...
I don't trust anything out so called government does anymore.

[LSparkle]

12. I wish they'd concentrate on what COUNTRY our food comes from

Tell me where my local butcher gets his MEAT -- I'm more afraid of eating something from China or elsewhere than I am drinking "demon alcochol."

[kenny blankenship]

6. This is stupid. Anyone legally able to purchase alcohol knows there is no nutritional value

What are they really pushing this for? Just to annoy people and convince them that the government is out to annoy them wherever possible?

[jesus_of_suburbia]

9. I do like knowing the calories!

I usually measure my alcohol out because I'm usually on a diet, lol!

[razors edge]

13. Excuse while I go and die now,

I have been a Bud Light fired machine for twenty years, I ate a cheese stick three years ago and it is still binding me up.

:spray: :beer: :beer: :beer:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

14. Soooo...

You're saying they should remove nutritional labels from junk food?

[kenny blankenship]

15. I guess if you are saying you are so stupid that you need that

who am I to object?

People eat "food", that you call junk food, they can be forgiven for thinking it's actually food and has nutritional content. It purports to be food. Booze does not purport to be food and if you are so dumb that you think it is, your ass should be institutionalized.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

16. What if I'm diabetic?

And I want to know whether or not the junkfood/drink has too much sugar in it?

How about if I'm hypertensive, and need to watch my sodium?

What about if I'm phenylketonuric? You know what that is, right?

[kenny blankenship]

17. We're talking about alcohol dummy

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. Yes, dingus.

That's my point.

[TomInTib]

8. So much for Wine Label Art.

We actually have shows here that feature wine label art.