The Back Alley Archives

According to federal regulations, you may not, in fact, stick a feather in your hat and call it macaroni.

I’m serious. At 21 CFR 139, Subpart B, § 139.110, macaroni is defined as “the class of food each of which is prepared by drying formed units of dough made from semolina, durum flour, farina, flour, or any combination of two or more of these, with water and with or without one or more of the optional ingredients specified in paragraphs (a) (1) to (6), inclusive, of this section.”


If it doesn’t meet that definition, you can’t call it macaroni. Some other anti-feather provisions in federal macaroni policy include:


The shape. “Macaroni is the macaroni product the units of which are tube-shaped and more than 0.11 inch but not more than 0.27 inch in diameter.”


Spaghetti and Vermicelli are also considered macaroni products. Spaghetti is “tube-shaped or cord-shaped (not tubular) and more than 0.06 inch but not more than 0.11 inch in diameter,” and vermicelli is “cord-shaped (not tubular) and not more than 0.06 inch in diameter.”


Egg whites must make up at least 0.5 percent by weight of each noodle, but no more than 2 percent.


The protein content of macaroni products is capped at 13 percent.


And Yankee Doodle began to cry.

Bourbon's legal definition varies somewhat from country to country, but many trade agreements require the name bourbon to be reserved for products made in the United States. The U.S. regulations for labeling and advertising bourbon apply only to products made for consumption within the United States; they do not apply to distilled spirits made for export.[2] Canadian law requires products labeled bourbon to be made in the United States and to also conform to the requirements that apply within the United States. But in countries other than the United States and Canada, products labeled bourbon may not adhere to the same standards. European Union regulations require bourbon-labeled products to be made in the United States, but do not require them to conform to all of the requirements that apply within the United States.

The Federal Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits (27 C.F.R. 5) state that bourbon made for U.S. consumption[2] must be:

made from a grain mixture that is at least 51% corn;[3]
aged in new, charred-oak barrels;[3]
distilled to no more than 160 (U.S.) proof (80% alcohol by volume);[3]
entered into the barrel for aging at no more than 125 proof (62.5% alcohol by volume);[3] and be
bottled (like other whiskeys) at 80 proof or more (40% alcohol by volume).[4]

Bourbon has no minimum specified duration for its aging period, but it must be aged at least briefly.[5]

Bourbon that meets the above requirements, has been aged for a minimum of two years, and does not have added coloring, flavoring, or other spirits may (but is not required to) be called straight bourbon.[6]

Bourbon that is labeled as straight that has been aged under four years must be labeled with the duration of its aging.[7]
Bourbon that has an age stated on its label must be labeled with the age of the youngest whiskey in the bottle (not counting the age of any added neutral grain spirits in a bourbon that is labeled as blended, as neutral-grain spirits are not considered whiskey under the regulations and are not required to be aged at all).[8]

Bourbon that is labeled blended (or as ‘a blend&#8217 may contain added coloring, flavoring, and other spirits (such as un-aged neutral grain spirits); but at least 51% of the product must be straight bourbon.[9][10]
Bourbon bottle, 19th century.

In practice, almost all bourbons marketed today contain more than two-thirds corn, have been aged at least four years, and do qualify as "straight bourbon"—with or without the "straight-bourbon" label.[citation needed] The exceptions are inexpensive commodity bourbon brands (aged only three years) and premixed cocktails made with straight bourbon aged for two years. But at least one small distillery markets bourbon aged for as little as three months.[11]

Whiskey sold as Tennessee whiskey is also defined as bourbon under NAFTA[12] and at least one other international trade agreement,[13] and is required to meet the legal definition of bourbon under Canadian law,[14] but some Tennessee whiskey makers do not label their product as bourbon and insist that it is a different type of whiskey when marketing their product.