Get the Facts: Calling for Better Alcohol Labeling. Again. – National Consumers League

It’s been nearly 5 years to the day (Dec. 16, 2003) – how time flies! – since the National Consumers League first called on the federal government to get with it and do for beverages containing alcohol what it has done for other consumer products and create a standardized, mandatory labeling system. Over the years, consumers have grown to rely on Nutrition Facts and Drug Facts labels. A similar label for beverages containing alcohol seems like the next logical step, right?

An Alcohol Facts label, NCL and others have argued, would help consumers  make better decisions about their consumption of these beverages. It’s currently a bit of a mess, with alcohol content and other information difficult or impossible to find on some products. The new Alcohol Facts label would provide easy access to information about serving sizes, calories and carbohydrates, alcohol content, and more.

Seems like standardized labels on these beverages would be especially helpful this time of year, when many of us watching our waistlines wonder just what’s in that champagne, egg nog or mulled wine.

In a letter to the Department of the Treasury (the agency that redulates alcohol labeling – weird, huh?) Secretary-Designate Geithner, four leading public interest groups — Center for Science in the Public Interest, Consumer Federation of America, NCL, and Shape Up America! — are pressing for meaningful change in how the Department regulates alcohol labeling. Read our letter here.