# Is alcohol exempt from food labels? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 22, 2009, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcohol-exempt-from-food-labels/497260 "2009-05-22T01:30:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcohol-exempt-from-food-labels/497260/1 "2009-05-22T01:30:39Z")
I just realized that I see food labels on most food product, including most drinks. Even water has a good label with calories, serving size, etc listed on it. But I have never seen a beer or a bottle of wine with that information–are they exempt for some reason? It would seem that if there is so much concern to notify me that a bottle of soda is three servings, shouldn’t alcohol have the same restrictions, so that I can make the same types of decisions? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcohol-exempt-from-food-labels/497260/2 "2009-05-22T01:35:14Z")
Alcohol isn’t regulated by the FDA. [http://www.fda.gov/FDAC/special/foodlabel/pyramid.html](http://www.fda.gov/FDAC/special/foodlabel/pyramid.html) > [@](#): > > Labeling of the alcohol content of beverages is regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. Alcohol content (in percentage by volume) appears on the front panel of some alcoholic beverage labels. Alcohol content of foods and beverages is not required to be listed on the nutrition panel. However, some alcoholic beverages, such as light beers and wine coolers, provide information about the amount of calories, carbohydrate, protein, and fat they contain. You may find this information useful if you’re counting calories because alcoholic beverages are generally rich in calories and poor in nutrients. [Some people are calling for this labeling](http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/InTheNews/Etc/1072191587.html). > [@](#): > > the National Consumers League and the Center for Science in the Public Interest have petitioned the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to revise the information provided on alcohol beverage container labels ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcohol-exempt-from-food-labels/497260/3 "2009-05-22T01:35:23Z")
Generally, yes. I don’t recall the reasoning for it, though. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcohol-exempt-from-food-labels/497260/4 "2009-05-22T03:33:39Z")
Yeah. Ive always thought this lack of labeling was RE TARD ED to the extreme. All this baloney about responsible drinking and they dont even tell you the percentage of alchohol? ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcohol-exempt-from-food-labels/497260/5 "2009-05-22T03:55:48Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > All this baloney about responsible drinking and they dont even tell you the percentage of alchohol? Well, 90% of beers are going to be between 4% and 5%. SOme even do print it on the label, though not all. Hard liquor has labeling, actually, in terms of proof (alcohol percentage is half the the proof.) As for wine…umm…I don’t drink it, so I don’t know if it’s labeled or not. ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcohol-exempt-from-food-labels/497260/6 "2009-05-22T04:55:14Z")
IAALush. I vaguely recall reading that beers didn’t (or weren’t allowed to) print their alcohol percentages for fear of instigating a proof-race. I don’t know if that was a regulation or just something that the breweries didn’t want to do. There are some “Ice” beers that proudly proclaim “5.9%”, but I believe that’s recent. Also, I believe that the fortified wines usually list their proof or percentage. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcohol-exempt-from-food-labels/497260/7 "2009-05-22T11:52:49Z")
Alcohol content is only one part of the problem. None of the ingredients are listed either. Don’t we have a right to know what flavorings or colorings are added? It should not be different than any other food. People say that this exemption is because of powerful lobbying from the liquor lobby, who likes to keep their secrets private. But if that were so, wouldn’t we see at least SOME other countries where liquor does NOT get these exemptions? Fellow dopers from outside of the USA: In your country, are the labeling requirements for alcoholic drinks the same as other foods or not? ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcohol-exempt-from-food-labels/497260/8 "2009-05-22T12:13:18Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > As for wine…umm…I don’t drink it, so I don’t know if it’s labeled or not. Most, but not all bottles of wine have the info somewhere on the label; usually, on the front label, but running “down” the side of the label, so you have to turn the bottle on its side to read it properly. Sometimes the info is on the back label. For some reason, though hard liquors are “proofed”, where 80 proof is 40% alcohol, wine just lists the percentage of alcohol. Most decent wines run somewhere between 11% and 15%, with the cheap, Kool-Aid-like swill (like Boone’s Farm and Bella Sera) typically run more like 6%-7%. Also, generally, the drier wines have a higher alcohol content than the sweeter. Very sweet varieties like moscato and white zinfandels are often only about 9% or 10%. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcohol-exempt-from-food-labels/497260/9 "2009-05-22T12:23:54Z")
I never knew alcohol percentage isn’t required to be labelled in the US. It is in the UK. I assumed the OP was about “nutrition information” - protein, fat, carbohydrate etc, as found on pretty much all other food and drink. Alcoholic drinks never seem to have that stuff, but always show the alcohol content in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcohol-exempt-from-food-labels/497260/10 "2009-05-22T15:22:30Z")
pulls his coopers closer and takes a look… in Australia we have alcohol percentage on all drinks and units of 1 Australian standard drink: [http://www.alcohol.gov.au/internet/alcohol/publishing.nsf/Content/standard](http://www.alcohol.gov.au/internet/alcohol/publishing.nsf/Content/standard) but no ingredients… ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcohol-exempt-from-food-labels/497260/11 "2009-05-22T15:36:42Z")
[Cecil’s take on the issue](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/323/does-budweiser-beer-contain-chicken-hearts). ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcohol-exempt-from-food-labels/497260/12 "2009-05-22T15:54:07Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Well, 90% of beers are going to be between 4% and 5%. SOme even do print it on the label, though not all. Hard liquor has labeling, actually, in terms of proof (alcohol percentage is half the the proof.) > > As for wine…umm…I don’t drink it, so I don’t know if it’s labeled or not. I had some pretty tasty beer a few years ago that was, I kid you not, 20 PERCENT alcohol. 40 proof beer! Kinda pricey, but considering that one bottle was equal to 4 to 6 weak beers, it was actually pretty cheep booze wise. I got all floaty before I finished the first one. I don’t know how they got the proof that high. I suspect they just dumped in a bunch of surplus vodka when they were done… ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcohol-exempt-from-food-labels/497260/13 "2009-05-22T15:57:08Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > I had some pretty tasty beer a few years ago that was, I kid you not, 20 PERCENT alcohol. 40 proof beer! > > Kinda pricey, but considering that one bottle was equal to 4 to 6 weak beers, it was actually pretty cheep booze wise. > > I got all floaty before I finished the first one. > > I don’t know how they got the proof that high. I suspect they just dumped in a bunch of surplus vodka when they were done… What was the brand? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcohol-exempt-from-food-labels/497260/14 "2009-05-22T16:01:41Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > What was the brand? Dogfish Head 120 IPA is 21% ABV. Sam Adams Utopias is 27% ABV (but more like a liqueur rather than a beer, and it’s extremely expensive, like $100 or so.) edit: [Looks like there’s a number](http://www.beertutor.com/beers/index.php?t=highest_alcohol) of them in the 20%+ range. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcohol-exempt-from-food-labels/497260/15 "2009-05-22T16:11:04Z")
It should be noted that the eisbocks on that list are made by “freeze distilling” the beer. It’s basically the same process as making traditional applejack: you allow the beer to freeze and, due to the different freezing points of water and alcohol, some of the water freezes and you skim that off to concentrate the liquid. The Sam Adams and Dogfish Head products, at least and I suspect most of the others (but perhaps not the Hair of the Dog one, I don’t know anything about that one), use some super hardy strains of yeast to get the alcohol that high.