Written by According to the Federal Alcohol Tax and Trade Bureau (“TTB”), one of the most common alcohol labeling issues that results in the rejection a Certificate of Label Approval (“COLA”) submission, thus delaying approval of a product’s label, is the presence of errors in the mandatory health warning statement which applies to all products set for sale to the public. We know that by the time you have reached the label approval stage in your brand’s long journey from concept to the shelf, a delay of a week can feel like a year. Don’t let these minor errors delay your process. Details like formatting and punctuation matter and can cause headache and unnecessary delay and with a little research and preparation can be easily avoided.
The following health warning statement must appear on all alcohol beverages for sale or distribution in the U.S. that contain 0.5 percent or more alcohol by volume:
GOVERNMENT WARNING: (1) According to the Surgeon General, women should not drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects. (2) Consumption of alcoholic beverages impairs your ability to drive a car or operate machinery, and may cause health problems.
For more information, see the regulations in 27 CFR part 16 for the full rules about how to meet the health warning statement labeling requirements and speed your label approval process.
If you are interested in opening your own production facility, or just have questions pertaining to any aspect of the alcohol regulatory process, please do not hesitate to give us a call.
Last modified: October 29, 2018
