The federal government is considering adding nutrition and ingredient information to the labels of alcoholic beverages, and the alcohol industry and health experts have distinctly different ideas about how that should be accomplished.

Late last month, the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) -- part of the Treasury Department -- issued a formal Request for Public Comment on the Labeling and Advertising of Wines, Distilled Spirits, and Malt Beverages, with comments due by June 28.

"The agency has long required certain labeling, such as brand name, class and type, alcohol content (in the case of wines containing more than 14 percent alcohol by volume and distilled spirits), net contents, and in recent years has published updated standards for the use of carbohydrate and calorie claims," the TTB noted. "Because of petitions to mandate additional information, including ingredient, allergen, alcohol, calorie, and carbohydrate content and requests by some to use labels with at least some of that additional information on a voluntary basis under existing rules, TTB believes it is now appropriate to consider revising the alcohol beverage labeling and advertising regulations."

Early objections to the proposal came from the owners of small wineries, who complained about the cost and logistics of determining content and nutritional information on small batches of wine.

The recent history on the labeling issue dates back to December 2003, when a coalition of 69 health groups, including the National Consumer League and the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), petitioned the TTB to add a variety of information to alcohol labels, including the beverage's alcohol content expressed as a percentage of volume; the serving size; the amount of alcohol per serving; the number of calories per serving; the ingredients (including additives) from which the beverage is made; the number of standard drinks per container; and the U.S. Dietary Guidelines' advice on moderate drinking for men and women.

Subsequently -- and in the midst of the low-carb craze that spawned such diet-friendly beers as Michelob Ultra -- members of the alcohol industry filed a petition of their own with TTB, asking that they be able to voluntarily add serving information to their labels.

In 2004, TTB responded by issuing a white paper outlining the information that should be included in a "Serving Facts" panel on alcoholic beverages, including the serving size in fluid ounces; servings per container; calories; grams of fat; grams of carbohydrates; grams of protein; ounces of alcohol (ethyl-alcohol) to the nearest tenth of an ounce; and the statement, "A standard drink contains 0.6 fl. oz. of alcohol. A serving of this beverage is XX standard drink(s)" or "... XX of a standard drink."

In a response to the white paper submitted to the agency, CSPI called the TTB proposal "a small positive step in providing useful consumer information about the consumption of alcoholic beverages."

"For the first time, it will allow -- in a systematized fashion -- the labeling of important information about calories, alcohol content, serving size and number of servings per container," said CSPI. "Such information will help consumers to manage more effectively their calorie intake (and appreciate the potential enormous contribution that alcoholic beverages can add to the diet) and better understand their level of alcohol consumption. In addition, if such labeling were to be used widely by producers, the information would allow consumers to compare alcoholic-beverage products and recognize how standard drinks of each type relate to each other."

However, CSPI also expressed some concerns about the TTB proposal, noting that including nutritional information like fat and protein content could lead to the false impression that alcohol is food and allow the industry to make spurious claims about "fat-free" beverages.

CSPI also said it would like to see the labeling be made mandatory and standardized across the industry, not voluntary.

Noted CSPI: "Although the information about drink size and standard drinks is marginally helpful, it could be vastly improved by requiring the addition of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines' recommendation regarding moderate drinking: up to one drink per day for women, up to two per day for men ... That statement, immediately following the definition of a standard drink, would put that information into context and help quantify "responsible" or "moderate" drinking for consumers."

Individuals or organizations wishing to submit comments to the TTB about labeling of alcoholic beverages should write to Chief, Regulations and Procedures Division, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, Attn: Notice No. 41, P.O. Box 14412, Washington, DC 20044-4412 or fax to 202-927-8585. Or, you can email comments to nprm@ttb.gov or by visiting http://www.ttb.gov/alcohol/rules/index.htm.