LABEL SUGGESTING WINE'S HEALTH BENEFITS OK'D

To your health! Maybe.

It all depends on which label you want to read on your wine bottle.

One label, approved Friday by federal regulators, makes this suggestion:
"The proud people who made this wine encourage you to consult your family
doctor about the health effects of wine consumption."

Or there's the required government warning that, among other things,
states: "Consumption of alcoholic beverages impairs your ability to drive a
car or operate machinery and may cause heath problems."

The government warning has been required on all wine bottles for the past
10 years. Now, officials at the Treasury Department and its Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms have decided that wine makers may add
another label to the bottle to encourage consumers to learn more about the
possible benefits of drinking wine.

The two notions might seem contradictory, but government officials said
they apparently had little choice but to accept the additional label, which
emerged after an intense three-year lobbying campaign by the wine industry.

The approval of the new wine label "is not an endorsement by the U.S.
government" to drink wine, said Edward S. Knight, Treasury's general
counsel. "It only means we have not found the label to be false or
misleading." Knight said that despite considerable opposition from Capitol
Hill, Treasury "had no legal basis to deny" the labels and that under the
First Amendment, the companies had a right to use the proposed labels as
long as they weren't misleading.

That wasn't acceptable to some lawmakers. Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C.,
quickly denounced the decision as "irresponsible, subjective, and . . .
poor public policy." Within hours of the announcement, he called Treasury
Secretary Robert Rubin to complain and press for legislation to overturn
the ruling.

Wine makers, for their part, hailed the Treasury Department's ruling as an
additional sign that wine drinking has achieved a rarified status in
American society, just as it is celebrated in Europe.

"This is a battle for the heart and soul for our position in society," said
John De Luca, president of the Wine Institute, which represents 450
California wine growers and makers. The label "is a milestone, another sign
that wine is no longer considered a gateway drug or a sin that warrants
higher taxes, trade limitions, or advertising restrictions," De Luca added.

So far, Treasury's approval applies to only two wine makers who requested
it. They had wanted stronger labels that encouraged consumers to research
the health "benefits" of a "moderate consumption" of wine.

But even with the more moderate labels, De Luca said he expected many other
winemakers would apply for similar labels, which Treasury officials said
they would approve as long as they were not more prominent than the
government warning, which also cautions pregnant women to avoid alcohol
because of the risk of birth defects.

Meanwhile, the Treasury and the BATF on Friday also outlined plans to crack
down on alcoholic products aimed specifically at underaged drinkers. The
BATF proposed new rules to prohibit alcohol to be packaged as flavored
frozen treats, gelatin products, or soft drinks because they are especially
attractive to children. The BATF also said it planned to seek legislation
that would give it additional powers to require new warnings on alcoholic
products and advertisements aimed at underaged drinkers.