NCL statement: Brewers’ Voluntary Disclosure Initiative underscores the capability, interest of the beer industry to put a serving facts panel on beer offerings

/in , , /by

August 4, 2021

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242

Washington, DC—At a time when nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults consume alcoholic beverages[1] and need alcohol content labeling to make responsible drinking decisions, the National Consumers League (NCL) welcomes the findings of an independent survey commissioned by the Beer Institute showing that more than 70 percent of the beer products sold in 2020 included a Serving Facts statement listing the alcohol by volume (ABV) and the number of calories, carbohydrates, protein, and fat on products, packaging, or websites.

The survey, which summarizes the results of the Brewers’ Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (VDI) launched in 2016, is noteworthy because it shows that brewers and importers have the capability to put a comprehensive nutrition label on both bottles and cans of beer. As documented by the survey findings, of the 78 percent of beer sold by VDI participating companies in 2020, 95.5 percent—or 152.5 million barrels—included nutritional content disclosures. This translates into 45.4 billion 12-ounce bottles and cans. The companies participating in the Brewers’ Voluntary Disclosure Initiative are Anheuser-Busch, Molson Coors Beverage Company, Constellation Brands Beer Division, HEINEKEN USA, and FIFCO USA.

Beyond the number of beer products now carrying helpful nutritional information, the findings of the Brewers’ Voluntary Disclosure Initiative are crucial for overcoming the concerns of the federal agency that regulates beer, wine, and distilled spirits—the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) within the Treasury Department—that requiring standardized nutrient content labeling on alcoholic beverages is costly and burdensome for beverage alcohol manufacturers.  Due to these concerns, TTB has yet to issue final regulations requiring Serving Facts statements on alcohol beverage labels.

Getting TTB to issue rules that mandate this labeling has long been a priority for the National Consumers League and other consumer, public health, medical, and nutrition organizations. In fact, NCL’s efforts go back to 2003, when the organization and 75 others first petitioned TTB to require an easy-to-read, standardized “Alcohol Facts” label, similar to the popular “Nutrition Facts” labels on foods and nonalcoholic beverages. While NCL will continue to press for a mandatory “Alcohol Facts” label, the efforts by the beer industry through the Brewers’ Voluntary Disclosure Initiative represent an important step in the right direction and are welcomed by the nation’s consumers. NCL looks forward to working with the beer industry, other alcohol product manufacturers, and the TTB to ensure that that all alcoholic beverages have nutritional facts on a standardized label by a date certain. We commend the Beer Institute for leading the way.

[1] 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Page 104.

About the National Consumers League

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

NCL to Congress: Strengthen fraud protections for users of P2P payment apps

/in , , /by

August 3, 2021

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242

Washington, DC—With fraud linked to the COVID-19 pandemic at record levels, the National Consumers League (NCL) today cited the use of peer-to-peer (P2P) payment apps by scammers as a significant contributor to the problem. In testimony before the Senate’s Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection Subcommittee, NCL Vice President John Breyault urged Congress to extend key consumer fraud protections to cover victims of scams who are tricked into sending money via P2P apps.

According to a 2020 Nerdwallet survey, roughly 4 in 5 Americans (79 percent) have used mobile payment apps. The explosive growth of P2P apps has accelerated significantly during the pandemic. Research firm Insider Intelligence estimated that the transaction volume for P2P payments will increase by roughly 37% in 2021, with total annual transaction volume over P2P apps expected to surpass $1 trillion by 2023.

“The same factors that are fueling the rapid growth of P2P payment platforms during the pandemic – low-cost, nearly instantaneous payments made via a mobile app – have made P2P a payment method of choice for scammers,” said Breyault. “If these platforms are making the decision to skew their services towards speed and convenience at the expense of safety and protection, then they must take responsibility for those choices.”

In 2020, the Federal Trade Commission received nearly 62,000 complaints from consumers who sent money to fraudsters via payment apps or similar services. Agencies such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and organizations like the Better Business Bureau have seen similar complaint spikes. Data from security firms Sift and Chargeback suggest that fraud rates on P2P apps may be three to four times higher than on credit or debit cards.

To address this fraud, NCL called on Congress to enact legislation that extends the fraud protections debit and credit card users rely on to users of P2P payment apps. In addition, NCL urged Congress to pass new laws to strengthen consumer protections, including requiring P2P platforms to display information about scams targeting P2P apps and maintain toll-free customer support lines.

“The lack of consumer protections for users of P2P payment platforms must not be ignored,” said Breyault. “It is clear that absent regulatory incentives, effective self-regulation by the P2P services will be stymied in the name of protecting transaction volume growth. Congress must act.”

To read NCL’s testimony , click here.

About the National Consumers League

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

NCL Public Policy Intern Tom Pahl

The complete picture: The need for alcohol labeling

/in , , /by

NCL Public Policy Intern Tom PahlBy Tom Pahl, NCL Policy Intern

Tom Pahl is a 2021 graduate of Skidmore College, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.

Just about every consumable food and drug product has a label with information about the contents—from over-the-counter medications, dietary supplements, sodas, and chips to the candy bars we nab from a convenience store. And consumers rely on these labels to make sound purchasing decisions. Surveys show that about 77 percent of Americans use the standardized Nutrition Facts label required by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Yet, there is one type of consumable product where we don’t have this option: alcoholic beverages.

It is not an overstatement to say that alcoholic beverages have been part of human civilization since early humankind. Archeologists trace the first wine drinks to China around 7000 BC. Additionally, beverage alcohol has a fabled history in the United States, underscored by the so-called “noble experiment” called Prohibition from 1920-1933. In fact, Prohibition is the reason that regulation of most alcoholic beverages—including content labeling—is the responsibility of the Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB).

Yet, the Federal Alcohol Administration Act, passed in 1935, created an exception to the rule. When alcoholic beverages contain more than 7 percent alcohol by volume, a standard measure known as ABV, TTB requires alcohol labeling. However, below 7 percent ABV, alcohol labeling falls under the purview of the FDA. This means different requirements for grape wine, sparkling or carbonated wine, fruit wine, saké, wine coolers, cider, and de-alcoholized or partially de-alcoholized wine. The requirements also apply to beers not made from malted barley, but instead malted barley substitutes, or made without hops like kombucha and gluten-free beer.

Why does this matter? Because alcoholic beverages regulated by FDA have the same standardized Nutrition Facts label as a soft drink (along with the ABV). This includes hard ciders and sparking wines that have taken the world by a storm in the past few years. In contrast, TTB allows the manufacturers of all other alcoholic beverages to “decide” whether to include nutritional labeling and, guess what? Surprise, surprise, the vast majority have no nutritional labels. Even more confounding, in any refrigerator, a bottle of beer and a bottle of hard cider made by the same company—to wit, Sam Addams beer and Angry Orchard Cider, made by the Boston Brewing Company—the beer has no nutritional information and the cider is fully labeled, proving that unless companies are required to label, they don’t do it!

It is true that TTB requires beer, spirits and wine makers to put specific information on product labels – including the type of alcohol, the alcohol content (ABV or proof), the net contents of the beverage, the coloring materials used, whether the beverage contains allergens, and the country of origin. As important as they are, these facts have nothing to do with health and nutrition and this information is more important than ever before due to the epidemic of obesity in the United States (almost 20 percent of men and 6 percent of women consume more than 300 calories from alcohol per day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and higher rates of diet-related diseases.

We know that when required by FDA, alcohol beverage manufacturers have figured out how to put a complete alcohol content label on their products. National Consumers League, along with other consumer organizations and public health groups, will continue to press TTB to issue a final rule requiring a mandatory Alcohol Facts label on all beer, wine and distilled spirits products. In 2021, consumers deserve the kind of robust labeling we see on other foods and which consumers understand, use, and need to make informed buying choices.