Thursday, January 24, 2008

Whiskey vs. wine vs. beer: making the rules so their rivals' won't

From Washington Post:

Distillers have been working aggressively to get the serving-size alcohol content on the bottle because they think it would dispel the impression that spirits are more intoxicating than beer or wine.

"To know how much alcohol is in a serving gives everyone a point of comparison," said Guy Smith, executive vice president of Diageo, the world's largest alcoholic-beverage company. "Don't hide this stuff from consumers."

...beer producers ... asked lawmakers to convince the Tax and Trade Bureau that disclosing the alcohol in a serving would be "complex, redundant and could mislead consumers."

Vintners are concerned about the cost of the proposal, which would require lab testing of different wines. Besides, they complain, the nutrition-facts array would rob them of space for the artistic displays that are common on wine labels.

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