New rules requiring calorie counts for alcoholic beverages on restaurant menus are worrying American winemakers, who say that testing each batch of fermented grape juice would be too expensive.
Under the Affordable Care Act, restaurant menus would need to publish calorie counts for drinks like chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon.
But the wine industry is pushing for the FDA to allow wineries to publish "an estimated range" of calories, rather than an exact tally, according to the Washington Post.
Wine trade group WineAmerica says that it could cost as much as "$500 per wine" to "conduct testing for detailed calorie information," according to the newspaper.
The rule for calorie counts applies at restaurants with "alcoholic beverages listed on menus." It does not apply to drinks ordered at the bar, and it does not require winemakers to put calorie counts on bottles of wine sold at stores, the newspaper reported.
Wineries say that they would be in a bind when asked by the restaurant chain to give a calorie count, according to the Post.
WineAmerica Comments on New FDA Calorie Rule in The Washington Post http://t.co/IeoXQzvUPh #wine — WineAmerica (@WineAmerica) January 12, 2015
