Posted on 11/23/2015 4:57:09 PM PST by Kaslin
Obamacare's menu labeling regulation promises to be a disaster for the food and restaurant industries, as its implementation is both costly and extremely onerous. While its deleterious effects on the pizza, restaurant, and grocery industries have been most well known, it also has the potential to shutter an industry near and dear to Americans' hearts: craft beer.
Since beer has a few too many calories for bureaucrats, the health law dictates that all brewers include a detailed calorie count on every type of beer produced. Failure to do so, according to Americans for Tax Reform, "means craft brewers will not be able to sell their beer in any restaurant chain with over 20 locations."
The Cato Institute estimates the Obamacare calorie labeling requirements will cost a business as much as $77,000 to implement. For larger beer companies, this is a drop in the bucket, but for small, local craft brewers it represents a substantial cost that they must pay. As a result, it creates a significant disadvantage compared to larger beer companies who can better absorb the cost of this new regulation.
According to Bart Watson, chief economist of the Brewers Association, "Most of the new [craft beer] entrants continue to be small and local, operating in neighborhoods or towns. What it means to be a brewery is shifting, back toward an era when breweries were largely local, and operated as a neighborhood bar or restaurant." The increasingly small size of craft breweries means they are faced with a tough decision in light of the impending regulations: cut costs and possibly lay off workers to pay for the calorie labels, or be shut out of one of the most profitable markets for their product. Either way, it is a lose - lose situation for the craft beer brewers and drinkers, an industry that grew 27.8 percent from 2013 to 2014 when it was left alone.
The most ridiculous part about the entire regulation is that menu labeling has little to no effect on consumers' purchasing choices, and studies demonstrating that menu labeling is linked to a reduction in obesity rates, the supposed benefit the FDA used to justify the regulation in the first place, doesn't exist.
Beer makes much CO2 and needs to be banned - ManBearPig
Does that include White Hut Hefeweizen?
Death by regulation.
I wonder if the big breweries donated to Obama his cronies.
This regulation will kill off their small rivals.
Beer is not Halal.
we already know that a Russian Imperial Stout has more calories than a coors lite
That’s the point.
Why is Coors Lite like sex in a boat?
In a way, this is actually good news. There is a thriving homebrew scene out there. I guess FedGuv doesn’t want the tax revenue. Fine by me.
Of course. And you’ll notice that the so-called “craft brews” being turned out by big beer cost about the same as smaller craft brews.
I’m actually good with it. This will backfire on both FedGuv and big beer in a spectacular way. There is a thriving homebrew scene out there. Unless they plan on banning malt and hops, they’re sowing the seeds of their own doom.
This is a family discussion board. 😊
F*****g close to water!
CC
menu labeling has little to no effect on consumers’ purchasing choices
= = =
Jack in the Box’s regular size milk shake was about 675 calories, on the menu at the drive through.
I got two tacos instead (192 x 2).
A craft beer may be about 200 cal.
I drank one when I got home.
The labeling has some effect on me. Not to the point of guilt, though.
Craft brewers already list ABV, IBU and SRM and well as calories
eg.
http://brooklynbrewery.com/brooklyn-beers/perennial-brews/brooklyn-brown-ale
“Style: American Brown Ale
Malts: British 2-row, Belgian Aromatic, American Roasted Malts
Hops: Willamette, Fuggle, Cascade
Alcohol by Volume: 5.6%
IBUs: 30
Original Gravity: 15.5° Plato
Calories: 190”
Don’t expect the Republicans in the Senate or House to do anything — the usual reasons would be cited. (1) No use passin’ it, it will only be vetoed. (2) We want to work across the aisle and this will disturb our relations with the Democrats; (3) We are saving our full press in Congress for the big issues; (4) The President might get mad and he won’t invite us to play golf with him once a year; (6) people are getting fat and they shouldn’t be drinking beer anyway; and, (7) John McCain, Lindsay Graham and John Kasich have their own “LITE” versions of the beer bill.
Exactly.
Which is why I don’t consider Coors Lite to be beer. It’s a malt beverage, or fortified water. But it ain’t beer.
We have too many choices for beer. It needs to be reduced to one. Victory Beer, by MiniPlenty. Horse filtered.
This may be silly, but I doubt it is onerous.
How expensive is it to do a calorie check on a bottle of beer?
Once that's done, it shouldn't be that difficult to make a small adjustment to labels to include the calories.
If this is phased in, which I'm sure the lobbyists can successfully lobby for, then companies won't have to throw away any labels they've already printed.
Please someone correct me if this is more complicated than it seems.
I think we should be against this for the right reasons and not because some think-tanker pulled a number out of his backside.
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