On Friday May 31, 2019, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a public hearing on the topic of cannabis or cannabis-derived compounds. The FDA held the hearing to gather information regarding the safety risks and health benefits associated with cannabis products. More than 110 speakers, including academic researchers, trade associations and cannabis product manufacturers, presented to the FDA panel during the all-day hearing. Below we outline the notable points from the hearing, including statements by FDA officials and interesting speaker comments. (more…)
The spring edition of the federal government’s semi-annual Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Regulatory Agenda) has been published. Like other federal agencies, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) uses the Regulatory Agenda to report on its current rulemaking projects.
The Regulatory Agenda provides glimpses into TTB’s policy focus and aspirations. But, readers should recognize that TTB rulemaking moves very slowly, and the Agency often does not meet the aspirational dates published in the Regulatory Agenda. (more…)
On February 5, 2018, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri issued an opinion in one of the many false advertising class actions brought against the industry in the past five years.
Penrose v. Buffalo Trace Distillery, E.D. Mo. 4:17-cv-00294-HEA, involves the labeling of Old Charter bourbon. For years, Old Charter sold an 8-year-old version and a 12-year-old version, with their labels very prominently displaying “8” and “12” (respectively) in several places. According to the complaint, in January 2014 Old Charter “8” was re-formulated to use less-aged bourbon, described by the court as “non-age stated” or “NAS” bourbon. The labels, however, continue to prominently display the number “8” in the same manner as the prior label. In addition, while the label previously stated “aged 8 years,” the NAS bourbon’s label states “gently matured for eight seasons.” The court’s opinion catalogues a number of alleged complaints by consumers that they were deceived into purchasing the NAS product on the mistaken belief that the bourbon was still aged for eight years. Significantly, the complaint alleges that the price for Old Charter “8” remained the same after the reformulation. (more…)
On November 7, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published the latest in a series of industry draft guidance documents to help implement menu labeling and nutrient disclosure regulations applicable to chain restaurants (Draft Guidance). FDA guidance documents are advisory in nature and represent the views of the FDA at a given point in time. Accordingly, guidance is subject to change, but is useful for developing a compliance plan for retail establishments covered by the menu labeling regulations. Changes are usually incremental and based on agency experience and input from regulated industry members.
The FDA established a 60-day period for comments on the draft menu labeling and nutrient disclosure guidance. The comment period ends on January 6, 2018.
The current compliance date for menu labeling and nutrient disclosure regulations is May 7, 2018.
Implementation of federal menu labeling and nutrient disclosures by chain restaurants is a study in modern American political and administrative processes. For those who already tried to comply with the formal FDA regulations and prior guidance, an explanatory note about delays in the administrative process appears at the end of this post.
Two sections of the Draft Guidance explicitly address alcohol beverages.
Guidance is offered for beer lists on menus and the discussion has broader application to wine and spirits products and cocktails that are standard menu items on chain restaurant menus.
Sources of nutrient information for beer, wine and spirits are also discussed to provide an alternative to expensive laboratory testing for each brand that a manufacturer offers.
The Draft Guidance also:
Includes several plain-language explanations of key terms in FDA regulations with useful distinctions between regular menu items and season or special items;
Displays a number of graphics designed to assist retailers with standardized formats to communicate calorie content of various foods to consumers and to distinguish menus from marketing materials;
Directs manufacturers and retailers to reliable sources and methods to prepare and display compliant nutrient disclosures; and
Provides information on presentation of mandatory standard menu notices alerting consumers to the federal government’s recommended 2,000 calorie diet and availability of nutritional information for standard menu items upon request to a server or manager at a retail establishment.
The FDA guidance and the formal regulations use subjective terms about legibility (e.g., contrasting, clear and conspicuous). Those terms aim to ensure that information is consumer-friendly, but they could lead to nuisance complaints from regulators. FDA regional personnel and local inspectors under contract with the FDA will monitor compliance with menu labeling regulations. Since chains will, by nature, have locations in multiple jurisdictions, consistency in enforcement poses a challenge to industry and government.
To mitigate regulatory risks, a conservative approach is advisable to mandatory disclosures. All aspects of calorie and nutrient disclosure should be reviewed by counsel or a knowledgeable compliance professional. The review should start with the manner used to ascertain calories and nutrients and continue through preparation and publication of new and easy-to-read menus and nutrient disclosures. [...]
Late last year, the Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau (TTB) published its semi-annual regulatory agenda in the Federal Register. The agenda provides useful insights into TTB’s regulatory plans and goals for the coming year. As in prior years, however, observers should recognize that TTB often announces ambitious regulatory plans and deadlines that it does not meet.
TTB identified five priority projects for 2015. First, TTB wishes to update and modernize its regulations on the labeling and advertising of wine (Pt. 4), distilled spirits (Pt. 5) and beer (Pt. 7). In describing the initiative, TTB seems most interested in simplification and streamlining, not in the imposition of significant new labeling and advertising requirements. Second, TTB seeks to further de-regulate and streamline its oversight of denatured alcohol and rum, a move that could help the competitiveness of U.S. industrial operations that employ alcohol. Third, TTB wishes to amend its export and import regulations to harmonize them with the International Trade Data System (ITDS), thereby transitioning to an all-electronic import and export environment. Fourth, TTB hopes to implement self-certification of the formulas for flavors, extracts and other non-beverage products made with alcohol. Fifth, TTB plans to review its distilled spirits plant regulations (Pt. 19) in order to replace the current four monthly report forms required for reporting with two forms.
Leaving priorities aside, the semi-annual agenda reports on a number of rulemaking initiatives that should attract the interest of regulated industry members. This note will group the most significant based on the affected industry:
Multiple Alcohol Beverage Categories
TTB pledges to publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to modernize its wine, spirits, and beer labeling and advertising regulations. As noted above, this is a 2015 priority item for the Agency.
TTB plans to issue an NPRM late in 2015 to explore whether to retain, revise or repeal the current standards of fill requirements for both wine and distilled spirits.
TTB plans to issue a Final Rule requiring the electronic submission of many applications, including those for original and amended basic permits.
TTB expects to issue an NPRM in April 2015 to amend its import and export regulations to make them compatible with ITDS. This is a 2015 priority item.
Wine Projects
TTB hopes to issue an NPRM on certain wine terms that were first raised to the industry in an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published by TTB in 2010.
TTB plans an NPRM in July 2015 to propose authorizing additional treatments for use in winemaking.
TTB expects to publish an NPRM late in 2015 to clarify the labeling of certain flavored wines.
Distilled Spirits Project
TTB hopes to issue a supplemental NPRM late in 2015 to propose replacing the current four monthly forms filed by distilled spirits plant operators with two forms, thereby streamlining distillers’ reporting burdens. TTB views this project as a 2015 priority.
Non-Beverage and Industrial Alcohol Projects
TTB plans to issue an NPRM on the self-certification of non-beverage product [...]
Distillers have used barrels to age whiskies, brandies and other distilled spirits for centuries. Today, American craft distillers increasingly seek to innovate and extend their product offerings by barrel aging spirits, both traditional (e.g., whiskies) and non-traditional (e.g., barrel-rested cocktails). Not surprisingly, the thicket of alcohol beverage laws and regulations impose certain requirements and place certain limits on the use of barrels.
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