Food Labeling on Alcoholic Beverages
Please help make food allergen labeling on alcoholic beverages mandatory (including an ingredients list)!
Hello,
I’m writing to you because you are those that understand. I have a number of food allergies, as does my young niece. It’s a struggle every day, and at times I feel like I’m playing Russian Roulette with something as simple, basic and necessary as eating. I carry an epipen, though from experience even the tiniest dose gives me a terrible reaction. A full dose could kill me. So I am extra cautious about what I eat, and what I feed my niece.
Currently alcoholic beverages, as regulated by TTB (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) and not FDA, have no law for mandatory labeling of common food allergens, nor any ingredients listing.
There is a Notice No. 62 that has been on the shelf collecting dust for years, regarding common food allergens to be listed on the labeling.
TTB created an Interim Rule, TD TTB-53, which provides the alcoholic beverage industry may choose to voluntarily label their products using something similar to the FDA guidelines. This rule can be viewed here:
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/pdf/E6-11872.pdf
The alcoholic beverage industry has the big voice to keep things just the way they are, dormant.
Where is our voice? They haven’t heard from us, a manager from the TTB has told me. Therefore there is no case to be made.
What can we do?
1. Write our congressmen. Make it clear that this is a life or death issue, in the midst of the economic crisis, this is a strong priority and must be dealt with immediately.
2. Speak up to the TTB and help them build a case for a final ruling. Tell them not only should there be food allergen labeling, but an ingredients listing as well – both mandatory on all alcoholic beverage products.
Make sure to add your comments here:
http://www.ttb.gov/nprm_comments/ttbnotice62_comments.shtml
3. Create/sign a petition to help make this happen – send the petition to your congressman.
Thank you so much for your time, your support, and your action on this very important issue. Let’s be heard and make it happen.
** Don’t forget: we may choose to avoid alcoholic beverages, but they are commonly used in cooking and baking, such as sauces, marinades, candies, desserts, ingredients in dishes at restaurants, or at someone else’s home. Children are at risk as well here, just as much as adults are.
Sincerely,
S. B.