The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) regulates the labeling and advertising of alcohol beverages, including distilled spirits, wine, and malt beverages, under the Federal Alcohol Administration Act (FAA Act) and collects excise taxes on certain such products under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
In administering the provisions of the FAA Act, TTB's goals are to assure the product integrity of alcohol beverages in the marketplace, to ensure that alcohol beverages are labeled in a way as to provide accurate information as to the identity of the product and prevent consumer deception, and to verify and substantiate industry member compliance with our laws and regulations.
On occasion, certain alcohol beverage products receive significant public attention, and TTB has an important role to provide information that is helpful to consumers and industry as to the identity of these products and how they fit within our jurisdiction. In particular, TTB is aware that products that are being marketed as alcohol infused whipped cream are currently receiving substantial attention. These products currently in the marketplace are alcohol beverages, specifically considered to be distilled spirits specialty products, and are therefore subject to the FAA Act, as explained below.
TTB prescribes and administers regulations to implement the labeling provisions of the FAA Act, which is codified in Title 27 of the United States Code (27 U.S.C.). Specifically, 27 U.S.C. 205(e) provides, in pertinent part, that alcohol beverage products must be labeled in conformity with labeling regulations that will prohibit deception of the consumer with respect to such products, that will prohibit statements on labels that are likely to mislead the consumer, and that will provide consumers with adequate information as to the identity and quality of the products, the alcohol content on certain products, and the products' net contents, among other things. Producers of alcohol beverages to be sold, shipped, delivered or otherwise introduced in interstate commerce are required to submit to TTB applications for certificates of label approval that meet TTB's regulatory requirements prior to entering an alcohol beverage product into the U.S. marketplace.
A distilled spirits product label must include a statement of the class and type and the alcohol content as required by the regulations implementing 27 U.S.C. 205(e) and the Government Warning Statement as required by 27 U.S.C. 215, all of which identify for consumers that the product is an alcohol beverage.
With respect to distilled spirits specialty products such as those currently being marketed as alcohol infused whipped cream, TTB requires a statement of composition on the label that identifies for consumers the type of distilled spirit in the product, and as a result, the fact that the product is an alcohol beverage. TTB regulations implementing the FAA Act on distilled spirits products can be found in part 5 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations (27 CFR part 5), TTB also regulates the advertising of such products pursuant to the FAA Act and part 5 of the regulations. For more information on how TTB regulates these products, please visit our Web site at www.ttb.gov.
In addition, alcohol beverage products must comply with all applicable state laws and regulations, which may include specific conditions for selling these products at retail. For information on how a particular state may regulate a distilled spirits product, we suggest you contact the applicable regulatory bureau in the state. You can find a listing of state bureaus that regulate alcohol beverage products on our Alcohol Beverage Control Boards Web page.