LEDA at Harvard Law
Health Effects & Wine: The FDA Should Regulate the Health Effects on Wine Labels
Sara Levison Golden
Class of 2002
Food & Drug Law Course Paper
In 1976, the District Court of the Western District of Kentucky, in Brown-Forman Distillers Corp. v. Matthews , found that alcoholic beverages were exempt from the Food & Drug Administration labeling requirements. Since then the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms has had exclusive jurisdiction over the labeling of alcoholic beverages. As a result of the recent findings on the health effects of alcoholic beverages, in particular wine, it is necessary to revisit that 1976 decision. The FDA currently allows health claims to appear on the labels of food as long as there is significant scientific agreement on the evidence to support the claim. These standards establish a workable rule to allow health claims to appear on food and drink. These guidelines should be expanded to cover wine labels.
Recent studies suggest that wine might be more than just the perfect accompaniment to an elegant dinner; it may also have important health benefits. Wine is being shown to reduce coronary heart disease. These benefits are being leaked to the American public through news reports and articles in newspapers and magazines. Currently, wine labels cannot include the reported health benefits of this fine grape beverage. This paper will argue that the wine consumer should be able to read the benefits directly on the label. More importantly, the consumer should be able to trust the labels to provide accurate and reliable information. Currently, alcohol labels are governed by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, which enforces the Federal Alcohol Administration Act (FAAA). The FAAA covers all alcoholic beverages having seven percent alcohol, those beverages with lower levels and cooking wine are regulated by the FDA. The BATF does not have the expertise to properly regulate health effects on alcohol labels; consequently the FDA, which has the proper framework to effectively do this, should regulate this. In 1990, the NLEA was passed giving FDA the power to regulate health claims on food labels. The NLEA sets up guidelines for the scientific standard of the research necessary to justify the health claim. These guidelines or something similar should be applied to alcoholic beverage labels. Since the FDA has the experience of regulating health claims and evaluating scientific research it is appropriate for this agency to regulate wine and all alcohol.
This paper will explore the reasons why the FDA should regulate the health claims on wine labels. First, it will be necessary to understand the history of the BATF’s jurisdiction over alcoholic beverages. Next it will be necessary to explore the framework established by the NLEA. Third, it is necessary to evaluate the current research on alcohol and wine. Last, the reasons why the FDA is the most appropriate agency to regulate wine labels will be presented.
II. The FDA Can Better Regulate the Health Claims of Wine Labels
A. BATF’s Exclusive Control over Wine Labels
The FDA and BATF shared jurisdiction over alcoholic beverages from 1938 until 1976. During this time the labeling was reserved to the BATF and the FDA only continued to retain control over adulteration in alcoholic beverages. In order to understand BATF’s current role it is first necessary to explore the historical root of their jurisdiction and then to delve into the current role that the BATF plays in regulating wine.
In 1935, Congress passed the Federal Alcohol Administration Act, which gave the authority to regulate the labels of alcoholic beverages to the Department of Treasury, who designated the BATF as the enforcement authority. Until 1935 alcohol labels were regulated under the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. After thirty years, Congress decided that this was insufficient because it only prohibited falsity and deception. The 1935 Act required that alcohol labels contain the identity and the quantity of the product, the net contents, and alcohol content. When C