http://www.latimes.com/health/la-na-...,6545288.story
Government regulators on Wednesday warned four energy-drink makers that caffeine added to their malt alcoholic beverages is an "unsafe food additive." The warnings are a first step to potentially banning the drinks popular among binge-drinking college students.
Some of the controversial drinks, which often come in large containers, have the same alcohol content as four or five beers. They're sold under such names as Four Loko, Joose and Moonshot. Their nicknames are more revealing: "blackout in a can" and "liquid cocaine."
The drinks are a "public health concern," said Joshua M. Sharfstein, principal deputy commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. "Consumers should avoid these caffeinated alcoholic beverages, which do not meet the FDA's standards for safety."
The caffeine and other stimulants in the drinks mask the sensory cues that let people know when they are intoxicated, a phenomenon known as "wide-awake drunk."
"It's pretty clear by the amount of people showing up in emergency rooms that mixing caffeine with alcohol has health risks that are bigger than just caffeine or just alcohol," said Kimberly Dennis, medical director at Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center in Chicago. "I think the FDA saying something about it helps people recognize the risk and helps society in general come out of denial."
If the companies continue to make and market the drinks, the federal government could eventually seize the beverage products or seek a court injunction to halt production. The companies have 15 days to respond to the FDA letters and either explain how they will take their products off the market or defend their drinks as safe.
Four states have banned the drinks and others are considering it.
In anticipation of the FDA ruling, Phusion Projects, the Chicago maker of the popular Four Loko drinks, capitulated on Tuesday. It said it would reformulate its products to remove caffeine, guarana and taurine. It has stopped production and shipment of all its products containing the stimulants.
"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 company said in a statement.
Still, Phusion maintains the mixture is safe and cites such common caffeine-alcohol combinations as rum and Coke, vodka and Red Bull, and Irish coffee.
Colleges across the country are banning Four Loko after recent events at Central Washington University, where a group of students partying with the drink began to pass out and suffer symptoms of toxicity. Nine students were rushed to the hospital and more than 50 suffered serious illness.
It just got banned in my state, hopefully elsewhere too.
