Campaign for Liberty Joins Bellion Spirits in First Amendment Fight

Campaign for Liberty has joined Bellion Spirits in its petition to the U.S. Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) to allow Bellion Spirits to label its products in the way it sees fit.

At issue is a proprietary compound, NTX, which proved in clinical testing to protect the liver from potential damage caused by moderate/social alcohol consumption and reduces the amount of DNA damage associated with alcohol ingestion. The TTB, however, has banned these health statements from being disseminated on the label and in the labeling of alcoholic beverages, specifically Bellion Spirits, which uses the NTX technology in the manufacturing of its vodka.

DrBooze.com describes the research behind NTX:

The claim to fame is that NTX provides some degree of protection to the liver from the ravages of alcohol. The leader of the inventing research team, Hartha Chigurupati of the eponymous firm Chigurupati Technologies has actually run some scientific studies comparing the liver enzymes of drinkers with and without drinking his NTX infused alcohol.

To cut to the chase you have three liver enzymes, which will be closely monitored by your doctor if you are on harsh medications or have told the doc the truth about your alcohol consumption. (Near as I can tell virtually everyone lies and says they only drink “occasionally, you know, maybe a couple of glasses of wine a week.”) When I pressed Dr. Chigurupati for an example he told me the following.

The research sample were instructed to drink to a Blood Alcohol Level (BAC) 0.12 nightly for two weeks. Their enzyme levels were measured before and after. They were then given two weeks off to recover, and the process was repeated but this time the alcohol was infused with NTX. I picked (arbitrarily as I’m no physician) on the GGT numbers. Dr. Chigurupati said during the first drinking session, a person with a GGT level of 23, saw that level climb to 35. Drinking the vodka with NTX two weeks later their GGT levels only climbed to 24.

Jeff Ellingson points out that this product tastes good too:

The flavor enters with sweet malted wheat building to a corn and grass peak.  The fade is smooth with a warm mild sting and charcoal/licorice flavor on the semi dry finish.  Bellion Vodka will make a nice base for a tasty cocktail, and it is certainly smooth enough to serve on the rocks.

You can learn more about Campaign for Liberty’s support of Bellion Spirit’s claim here.