FDA Requiring Calorie Count in Alcoholic Drinks

Dec. 18, 2014 – The Food and Drug Administration wants you to know the number of calories in alcoholic drinks but only if the drink is on a menu in a chain restaurant with 20 or more outlets. This new rule, due to go into effect November 2015, does not apply to drinks ordered at the bar, or any drinks not on the menu.

So who is behind this latest iteration of the nanny state? The Center for Science in the Public Interest. They are concerned that alcoholic beverages are a key contributor to obese America. Well, yeah, we’ve all seen a “beer gut” or two but beer does not have to list its calories, which would be a nightmare for craft breweries. Similarly wineries would find it incredibly burdensome to cover every wine in every vintage.

As of now, the FDA is permitting estimates of calories on menus. For example there will be an estimate of average calories in a glass of red wine. Is someone ordering a glass of wine with dinner really that dumb that they don’t know wine has calories? The FDA and CSPI think so apparently.

Here’s an idea, why not a suggestion next to the wine to skip the bread roll? Even better, if you have wine, the server will not bring you bread. Could that happen? Remember the Big Gulp in New York?

Alcoholic beverages are regulated by the Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Trade and Tax Bureau, a setup dating back to the end of Prohibition, and last year they allowed wine, spirits and beer companies to include information about serving size, calories, carbohydrates, protein and fat if they want to. This voluntary information could be used as a marketing tool to tout low carb drinks, for example. But it is by choice, not mandatory. This FDA meddling seems like the camel’s nose under the tent.