ALBANY, N.Y. _ There's an old saying that "beer is food," and while it's meant as a joke the federal government seems to be taking that line seriously _ much to the consternation of New York's growing craft beer industry.
Specifically, brewers are worried about a pending regulation, part of the still-controversial Affordable Care Act, that requires nutritional disclosures for all restaurant items, including beer. The idea is to help restaurant patrons keep track of the calories they ingest when they go out to eat.
For chain restaurants with 20 or more locations, menus will have to display calorie counts for the items; the establishments must also have other information readily available. The new regulation is being put in place by the federal Food and Drug Administration and is scheduled to take effect in December 2016.
Critics point to the cost involved in determining the calories and nutritional values of various items. And small craft brewers fear it may become prohibitive.
"For the small brewers, it's really going to lock them out," said Paul Leone, executive director of the New York State Brewers Association, which represents more than 200 craft brewers.
Lab tests for nutrients can cost around $600, and getting the results back can take a long time, the group complains.
The rule has already prompted Republican state Sen. Joe Griffo to write to the FDA.
"I believe these guidelines would have a particularly negative impact on smaller craft breweries, and I urge the FDA to reconsider this troubling mandate," Griffo wrote in a Dec. 1 letter to Acting FDA Commissioner Stephen Ostroff.
Griffo noted that his district has several craft breweries. The larger F.X. Matt Brewing Co., maker of the Saranac line of beers, is based in Utica.
He also noted that New York's craft brewing sector is a $3.5 billion industry supporting more than 11,000 jobs.
Not everyone shares Griffo's fears, however.
FDA spokeswoman Lauren Kotwicki said in an email that brewers might be able to use existing databases to determine calorie counts and other characteristics of their beers.
Calorie counts in some instances also might be listed in ranges.
Moreover, many in the restaurant industry are supportive of the federal rules.
They say that will be easier than conforming to the current patchwork of regulations imposed by various states and municipalities.
"We advocated for national menu-labeling with FDA in order to have one uniform standard," National Restaurant Association spokeswoman Christin Fernandez explained in an email.
Her organization is suing the New York City Department of Health over a mandate that menus there also include a sodium warning label. The city already has its own calorie-listing requirement for menus.
Mike Kaiser, spokesman for Wine America, said winemakers are less worried about the requirement _ in part because they don't have the kind of seasonal varieties that many craft brewers offer.
"We've been monitoring (the new FDA regulation) but don't see it as a problem," he said.
Kaiser did allow that the categories could become complicated for brewers due to those seasonal offerings. The rules might be interpreted in a way that requires analysis and labeling for each one.
Leone said they are hoping for the kind of regulatory relief that they recently got regarding "spent grain," or leftover malt that is a byproduct of the brewing process and which has to be disposed of.
That's not as easy as it sounds, given the raft of health and environmental regulations. But the FDA allows breweries to give spent grain to farmers for use as animal feed.
That regulatory victory came after the beer industry pushed for it, said Leone. But he wasn't sure how receptive the FDA will be on calorie counts.
"This one, I'm not so sure about," he said.
Beer as food
Here are some nutritional values found in a standard can of beer:
Protein: 1.64 grams
Carbohydrates: 12.64 grams
Calcium: 14 milligrams
Phosphorus: 50 milligrams
Sodium: 14 milligrams
Source: USDA Nutrient Database
About the Author
