First Tailgate, now Four Loko.
The Food and Drug Administration contacted 14 companies that produce alcoholic energy beverages Wednesday—including the makers of the popular Four Loko brand—calling the addition of caffeine to their products an “unsafe food additive” and warning that continued production of the drinks will result in prosecution. In response to the letter, a number of beverage producers have decided to remove caffeine from their alcoholic products.
Although there are a number of drinks similar to Four Loko, it is currently the most popular such drink among students. Bottled in colorful, 23.5-ounce cans, it contains 12 percent alcohol and an undisclosed amount of caffeine.
Some students on campus were indifferent to the news, but others opposed the FDA’s actions. Junior Scott Anderson said he believes the removal of caffeine from the highly alcoholic concoction will not have much effect on student behavior.
“People will find ways to drink irresponsibly one way or another,” he said. “Before Four Loko there was irresponsible drinking, and there will be irresponsible drinking after Four Loko.”
Senior Michael Krekel called the situation “pretty ridiculous,” adding that the beverage is “really no different than any drink you could mix on your own.”
In anticipation of the drink’s impending alteration, Krekel bought around 100 cans of Four Loko, with the intent of possibly buying more. He added he knows four or five people who did the same.
Tom Szigethy, associate dean and director of the Duke Student Wellness Center, said that despite the risks he believes such beverages pose, there have been no specific incidents on campus with alcoholic energy drinks. The administration is not currently considering a ban of the drinks on campus, he added. But even without caffeine, he said that students should be wary of drinking beverages like Four Loko.
“It’s not going to be a safe drink with the caffeine removed—each can is equivalent to four [standard alcoholic] drinks,” he said.
Phusion Products, the Chicago-based maker of Four Loko, decided to follow the FDA’s recommendations even though it disputes the agency’s assertions.
In a statement Tuesday, the company’s founders said that if the combination of alcohol and caffeine is as unsafe as the FDA claims, then “popular drinks like rum and colas or Irish coffees that have been consumed safely and responsibly for years would face the same scrutiny that our products have recently faced.”
There have also been claims that Four Loko is targeted toward minors with its fruity flavors and colorful packaging. But the company’s representatives noted that their product formulas and packaging were reviewed and approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau before being sold in the market.
“We are taking this step after trying—unsuccessfully—to navigate a difficult and politically-charged regulatory environment at both the state and federal levels,” the statement said.
In a statement released last Friday, Gov. Bev Perdue asked the manufacturers of alcoholic energy drinks to voluntarily withdraw their products from North Carolina until they are proven safe. The N.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission voted yesterday to allow state retailers to return alcoholic energy drinks to wholesalers for credit, effective immediately.
“Teenagers and college students are drinking these drinks and ending up in the hospital,” the governor’s statement noted. “The time to act on this is now, before we are faced with the death of one of our young people. The only responsible way to allow these drinks on our shelves is to first carefully review their health effects.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.