• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • About Craft Brewing Business

Craft Brewing Business

Professional Insight, Unfiltered

Craft Brewing Business Craft Brewing Business
  • News
  • Business & Marketing
  • Packaging & Distribution
  • Equipment & Systems
  • Ingredients & Supplies
  • Webinars & White Papers
  • News
  • Business & Marketing
  • Ingredients & Supplies
  • Packaging & Distribution
  • Equipment
  • Webinars & White Papers
  • COVID-19

TTB tips for labeling, advertising alcohol beverage calories, carbs and sugar content

July 12, 2021Chris Crowell

TTB alcohol facts

Flying Embers sent us some tasty hard kombuchas the other day (along with some seltzer). This came after receiving some non-alcohol IPAs from Oregon-based Crux Fermentation and some hop-infused water from Hoplark. While I am mourning the days of getting actual beer sent to our doorstep, these flavored alcohol and near-beer innovations are winning me over. They aren’t replacing my desire for a beer, but they are carving out their own niches. Their most powerful lesson, though, is a reminder that labeling matters.

The Flying Embers kombucha, for example, has 0 Sugar, 0 Carbs printed bottom center right under the name (and just under the still very important 7.2 percent ABV). It also has “antioxidants, USDA organic, adaptogens, gluten-free, vegan, keto” printed prominently near the nutrition facts. I don’t necessarily care about all of those, but they are all certainly influencing me, making me feel better about my choice (and perhaps encourage me?) to crack one open instead of a beer — heck, when drinking wasn’t even on my mind.

Flying Embers

Are you producing anything low-cal, low-carb, low sugar that could have a similar angel on the shoulder effect?

If you’re not, you should be, and if you are, be sure to understand the right and wrong ways to label and promote it. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) reminds that specific calorie or carbohydrate statements on labels and in advertisements needs to be accurate — and they need to include more than just the one number you want to promote.

“We consider these declarations to be misleading (and thus prohibited) unless they include a statement that lists the number of calories and the number of grams of carbohydrates, protein, and fat contained in the product based on a single serving.”

You have two different options for doing this under TTB guidelines: a “statement of average analysis” and a “Serving Facts statement.”

If you want to say on your label or in your advertising that your product is low in carbohydrates, under TTB Ruling 2004-1, your product must contain no more than 7 grams of carbohydrates per serving. Also, as described in TTB Ruling 2013-2, the label or advertisement must contain either a statement of average analysis or a Serving Facts statement.

TTB considers the use of terms such as “net carbohydrates” and “effective carbohydrates” on labels and in advertisements as misleading to consumers.

If a serving of your alcohol beverage contains less than 0.5 grams of sugar, you may include a claim such as “Zero Sugar,” “No Sugar,” or “Sugar Free” on your label or in your advertisement. The label or advertisement must also include a statement of average analysis or a Serving Facts statement.

Cropped shot of male hand holding beer bottle & national flag of USA against setting sun. River background. Happy independence day
TTB proposes some welcome changes to Brewer’s Notices
TTB COLA label warning
TTB labeling tip: Never change the GOVERNMENT WARNING
craft beer regulations
TTB eases some alcohol labeling regulations
TTB labels application checklist
TTB expands list of allowable revisions for approved alcohol labels (check ’em out)

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

Latest News

  • The wheeled Perlick Mobile Tap is a cool new roving beer station
  • A behind the scenes look at branding a startup brewery
  • Check out the 2022 National Homebrew Competition winners
  • Craft beer on-premise struggles continue in June 2022 Beer Purchasers’ Index

Sign up for our newsletter

unsubscribe from list

Most Popular Today

Recent Features

  • A behind the scenes look at branding a startup brewery
    June 28, 2022
  • robot beer salesThe future of retail beer sales is here
    June 27, 2022
  • Sapporo to acquire Stone Brewing, that one brewery that kept saying it wasn’t interested in selling out
    June 24, 2022
  • Reebok-x-Rec-2Harpoon collaborates with Reebok, Elysian reveals new tarot labels and more beers to know this week
    June 23, 2022
  • Carlsberg announces largest test trial of its fully recyclable Fiber Bottles (Mads Mikkelsen’s a fan)
    June 22, 2022
  • Strategic Partnership HandshakeHarpoon parent company buys Long Trail Brewing brands
    June 21, 2022

Footer

  • Email Newsletter Sign Up
  • About Craft Brewing Business
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise on Craft Brewing Business
  • Media Kit Download
  • Privacy and Terms

© 2022 · CBB Media LLC

Posting....