My wine has an alcohol declaration of “14% vol.” Why is this not acceptable?
Canadian regulations are very
specific about the format of alcohol declarations. The published
format is “14% alc./vol.”. This format gives a correct alcohol
declaration in both English and French. The LCBO will also approve
the alternate format published in the World Wine Trade Agreement “alc.
14% vol.”.
Can I use all upper case letters for the alcohol declaration?
Yes, this is acceptable.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency prefers all lower case letters but
accepts all upper case.
Why is “14% Alc./Vol.” not acceptable?
Canadian alcohol declarations
must be bilingual. Capitalising every word in a title or short
form is not correct in French. It is better to use all upper case
letters or all lower case letters rather than mix the two.
Can I express my alcohol content in proof?
Other expressions of alcohol
content may accompany but not replace the required Canadian alcohol
declaration in percent by volume. The alternative expressions
must be correct.
The Canadian regulations allow alcohol declarations fully spelled out without abbreviations (14% alcohol by volume). Why was the version on my label not accepted?
The declaration must be bilingual.
To be acceptable, it must be fully stated in English and in French.
My product is beer from the United States, produced in a state which does not require an alcohol declaration. Why is this not acceptable?
Although alcohol declarations
are not required on beer in some American states, they are a Canadian
federal requirement if the product is for sale in Canada.
How accurate must an alcohol declaration be?
The accuracy required varies by the type of product. See the LCBO Product Packaging Standards and Chemical Guidelines where alcohol accuracy tolerances are given in the chemical guidelines section. If the actual alcohol content is not within the tolerance, a correct alcohol declaration will be placed on the product at the supplier’s expense.