TTB NEWSLETTER | Weekly News

July 17, 2020

IN THIS ISSUE

Greetings! This week’s top news: we’re offering a webinar on malt beverge labeling, our laboratories are in the process of reopening, certain TTB regulated industry members are subject to FDA inspections, and kombucha may be regulated by TTB.

TTB WEBINAR: MALT BEVERAGE LABELING 101

Learn the basics of creating a malt beverage label that meets the TTB requirements.

July 23 at 1 PM EDT (11 AM MDT)

If you are new to the malt beverage industry or just need a refresher, this webinar will help you navigate TTB labeling rules, including:

basic mandatory information that has to appear on all malt beverage labels
some of the optional claims you might want to include, such as gluten content statements
how to avoid common labeling errors
how and when to send your labels to TTB for approval

LABORATORY SERVICES UPDATE

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we temporarily closed our laboratories. We are in the process of reopening these facilities, informed by state and local conditions, and we are adjusting services to accommodate employee safety and social distancing protocols.

As part of these protocols, we are limiting the number of staff conducting their work at our laboratories on a daily basis. As a result, submissions sent via mail may continue to be affected by service delays. We strongly recommend that industry members continue to submit laboratory applications and requests electronically, either through Formulas Online or the Contact Us form.

For additional guidance, please see our COVID page for the Best Electronic Filing Options for Lab Services.

QUESTIONS ABOUT FDA INSPECTIONS OF U.S. WINERIES, DISTILLED SPIRITS PLANTS, AND BREWERIES

Last week the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it is preparing to resume domestic inspections. We’ve received questions in the past from industry members about FDA’s inspections of their premises. Put simply, the facilities of alcohol beverage producers are subject to FDA inspection authority over food manufacturing and processing facilities (see 21 U.S.C. 374).

TTB regulates alcohol beverages under the Federal Alcohol Administration Act and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; FDA oversees the safety of food, drugs, and cosmetics under the authority of the U.S. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which was amended by the Food Safety Modernization Act in 2011. FDA has authority over ingredient safety and adulteration issues pertaining to foods (including alcohol beverages) under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

It is our position that alcohol beverages found by FDA to be adulterated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act are mislabeled under the Federal Alcohol Administration Act.

For further information about FDA activities, visit the FDA.gov Food page, or contact the FDA directly:

FDA Outreach and Information Center

Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
Food and Drug Administration

1-888-SAFEFOOD
1-888-723-3366
10 AM- 4 PM EST
Closed Thurs 12:30 - 1:30 PM ET

5001 Campus Drive, HFS-009
College Park, MD 20740-3835

KOMBUCHA MAY BE SUBJECT TO ALCOHOL BEVERAGE REGULATIONS

If you produce kombucha that contains 0.5% or more alcohol by volume (at any time during production, when bottled, or at any time after bottling), then TTB regulations apply, and you, as the producer, are subject to the Internal Revenue Code provisions that apply to alcohol beverages. Also, the container of any alcohol beverage (including kombucha) sold or distributed in the United States with an alcohol content of 0.5% or more must be labeled with the health warning statement required by the Alcoholic Beverage Labeling Act of 1988. Depending on how your product is produced, the labeling, advertising, and permit provisions of the Federal Alcohol Administration Act may apply as well.

To learn more, please visit Kombucha Information and Resources.

TTB Newsletter Archives >>>