Standard 2.7.1
Labelling of Alcoholic Beverages and Food Containing Alcohol
Purpose
This Standard provides labelling requirements for alcoholic beverages and food containing alcohol.
Table of Provisions
1 Interpretation
2 Declaration of alcohol by volume
3 Standard drink labelling
4 Representations of low alcohol
5 Representations of ‘non-intoxicating’
6 Food containing alcohol not to be represented as non-alcoholic
Clauses
1 Interpretation
In this Standard –
standard drink means the amount of a beverage which contains 10 grams of ethanol, measured at 20C.
2 Declaration of alcohol by volume
(1) The label on a package of food listed in column 1 of the Table to this subclause must include a statement of the alcohol content in the corresponding form specified in column 2.
Table to subclause 2(1)
Column 1 | Column 2 |
Food, including alcoholic beverages, containing more than 1.15 % alcohol by volume | Expressed in mL/100 g or mL/100 mL or X% ALCOHOL BY VOLUME or words and expressions of the same or similar effect |
Alcoholic beverages containing 1.15% or less alcohol by volume
Beverages containing 0.5% or more, but less than 1.15%, alcohol by volume | ‘CONTAINS NOT MORE THAN X% ALCOHOL BY VOLUME’ or words and expressions of the same or similar effect |
(2) The statement required by subclause (1) must, for the foods specified in column 1 of the Table to this subclause, be accurate to within the limits specified in column 2.
Table to subclause 2(2)
Column 1 | Column 2 |
Beer, cider and perry | 0.3% alc/vol |
Spirits, liqueurs, fortified wine, fortified fruit or vegetable wine, and all other alcoholic beverages containing more than 1.15 % alcohol by volume | 0.5% alc/vol |
Wine and fruit wine (including sparkling forms), and wine products and fruit or vegetable wine products containing more than 6.5 % alcohol by volume | 1.5% alc/vol |
3 Standard drink labelling
(1) Subject to subclause (2), the label on a package of a beverage or a food capable of being consumed as a beverage, which contains more than 0.5 % alcohol by volume, measured at 20C, must include a statement of the approximate number of standard drinks in the package -
(a) in the case of packages containing 10 or less standard drinks, accurate to the first decimal place; or
(b) in the case of packages containing more than 10 standard drinks, accurate to the nearest whole number of standard drinks.
(2) Subclause (1) does not apply to beverages packaged prior to 20 December 2002.
Examples:
For the purposes of subclause 3(1) the following examples are provided.
For a 750 mL bottle of 12.5% wine:
‘CONTAINS APPROXIMATELY 7.4 STANDARD DRINKS’
For a 750 mL bottle of 37% spirit:
‘CONTAINS APPROXIMATELY 22 STANDARD DRINKS’
For a 375 mL can of 4.9% beer:
‘CONTAINS APPROXIMATELY 1.4 STANDARD DRINKS’
4 Representations of low alcohol
An alcoholic beverage which contains more than 1.15 % alcohol by volume must not be represented as a low alcohol beverage.
5 Representations of ‘non-intoxicating’
The label on a package of a beverage containing more than 0.5 % alcohol by volume must not include the words ‘non intoxicating’ or words of similar meaning.
6 Food containing alcohol not to be represented as non-alcoholic
Food containing alcohol must not be represented in a form which expressly or by implication suggests that the product is a non-alcoholic confection or non-alcoholic beverage.