Related Information

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• Health Warning Statements
• Bioterrorism Act of 2002
• Import Beverage Alcohol for Personal Use
• Home Brewers
• Tobacco Internet Sales/Duty Free

Other Resources

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• WeDontServe Teens
• stopalcoholabuse.gov
• Food and Drug Administration
• Association of Analytical Communities
• Environmental Protection Agency

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Alcohol Product Safety and Testing

TTB's laboratories, through chemical testing, assure that product integrity is not compromised and that contaminants, adulterants, and prohibited ingredients are not present in marketed alcohol products. TTB protects the public by monitoring the regulatory compliance of these products through various programs:

• Consumer complaint and investigations;
• Inspections of wineries, breweries, distilleries, and manufacturers of nonbeverage products;
• Product testing and evaluation in the retail market for regulatory compliance and product safety;
• Sulfur dioxide waiver requests for wines;
• On-site technical assistance to the regulated industries and to TTB investigators;
• Examination and laboratory testing of beverage alcohol products to support product authenticity, and investigations of diversion, smuggling, and moonshine manufacturing operations;
• Certification of chemists for the export of wines or distilled spirits; and
• Evaluation of new technologies implemented by the regulated beverage alcohol industries.
• Harmful contaminants, adulterants, and unauthorized additives, coloring materials (e.g., toxins and toxic metals);
• Testing beverage alcohol products for limited and prohibited ingredients as regulated by FDA and/or TTB
• Technical evaluation of any new winemaking processes;
• Evaluation of nonbeverage formulas for limited and prohibited ingredients as regulated by FDA and/or TTB; and
• Laboratory testing of pre-COLA beverage alcohol products.

Findings and Determinations

• Determination of Furan in Alcoholic Beverages

Import Safety

The public has raised concerns about safety issues with various imported products, ranging from children's toys and cat food to toothpaste and seafood. TTB continues to work towards import safety through its collaboration with the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other Partner Government Agencies (PGAs).

Prohibited Ingredients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for determining which ingredients are prohibited from being used in food and/or beverage products. The TTB laboratory enforces these restrictions during testing of alcohol product samples. For a list of those ingredients see the FDA's regulations.

Coloring Material

Many alcohol beverage products contain coloring agents. Coloring agents are added to impact color which is not natural to the product. There are two categories of coloring agents that are used - FDA Certified Colors and Non-certified Colors. Certified colors are synthetic dyes approved by the FDA for use in beverage products. The non-certified colors are natural coloring agents approved for use in alcohol beverages. See a list of these agents and other limited ingredients.

Flavors in Alcohol Beverages

The manufacturer must provide information on any FDA-limited ingredients and TTB-limited ingredients. The manufacturer must disclose to TTB those ingredients that are limited, or would affect the labeling of the alcohol beverage (e.g., FD&C Yellow #5).

Bioengineered Foods

Bioengineered Foods are food or drink made from plant varieties that are developed from using recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (rDNA) technology (which is often referred to as “genetic engineering” or "biotechnology.")

There are no apparent health or safety risks associated with bioengineered foods used in the production of alcohol beverages. TTB has no basis for concluding that alcohol beverages produced from bioengineered ingredients differ from other alcohol beverages in any meaningful or uniform way, or that, as a class, alcohol beverages made from plant ingredients developed by the new techniques present any different or greater safety concern than alcohol beverages made from ingredients developed by traditional plant breeding.