Of Beers, Bellies And Balance

“I’m stuffed,” we say when the broccoli makes one more trip around the table. But 10 minutes later we “always have room for dessert.”

- Christopher Shepard

For me, beer works like that. I’ve got a whole separate compartment in my stomach for beer. Not so, of course; the separate compartment is in my mind, not my stomach.

Yet the U.S. government really does have a separate compartment (in this case, a bureau) for beer, indeed all alcohol. Real walls separate the regulators of the food and drink industry from those that control the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. By and large, industry members lobby to keep it that way.

It’s a big part of the reason there’s no mandatory nutrition labeling on beer, wine, spirits and other adult drinks. A few years ago, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) introduced an optional version of the familiar “Serving Facts” label that alcohol manufacturers could put on their products. It didn’t get much attention at the time. And in the last couple of years, only a handful of products with those labels appeared on shelves. Many of us remain blissful in our ignorance.

Then, earlier this year, a group of the largest brewing companies in the U.S. and their trade association, the Beer Institute, announced that nutrition information would be available for all of their products within the next four years. That got goo-gobs of attention: media hit after media hit, mostly positive. Culturally, we’re leaning hard into transparency and access to information, for better or worse (thanks, internet!). We especially want to know more about the foods and drinks we consume. I have a hard time seeing more bad than good in that.