The controversial alcoholic energy drinks Four Loko and Joose have been revamped — they no longer contain caffeine — and are back in stores.
The dangerous combination of caffeine and alcohol in those beverages — known as a “blackout in a can” — got them pulled from store shelves in December.
But the drink companies swiftly reformulated the concoctions. The caffeine-free formulas received approval from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, and the drinks went back on sale before the beginning of this year.
Once the Nebraska Liquor Commission received notice of the approval, it green-lighted the fruit-flavored malt beverages for purchase in the state, said Hobert Rupe, the commission's executive director.
The manufacturer of Four Loko, Phusion Projects of Chicago, saw the direction that regulators were leaning and announced in November that it would remove caffeine, guarana and taurine — common ingredients in energy drinks — from its alcohol products.
Just a week after the Nebraska Liquor Commission halted shipments of the caffeinated alcoholic beverages popular with young adults, Phusion began shipping out the reformulated Four Loko.
Four Loko is one of the more widely known energy-booze drinks because of an incident in October in which several Washington Central University students were found unconscious after consuming large amounts of Four Loko and other alcoholic beverages.
Four Loko cans are still 23.5 ounces, contain 12 percent alcohol and come in eight flavors, including fruit punch and lemonade. Phusion's website compares the drinks' alcohol content to wine and says flavored booze is “nothing new.”
But even the new version is dangerous, said Cassie Greisen, associate director of Project Extra Mile, a Nebraska advocacy group.
“It's still a large can with a lot of alcohol,” she said, describing the drinks as a “binge in a can.”
People might equate one can of the fruity drinks to a beer, which has a much lower alcohol content at 4 to 5 percent, Greisen said.
“It gives the illusion that you're not drinking as much alcohol as you are,” she said.
Project Extra Mile also is concerned that the product's candy-colored cans, low price and fruity taste appeal to young or underage drinkers. And 90 percent of underage drinking is binge drinking, Greisen said.
She called Four Loko and Joose “second-generation alcopops.” Alcopops refer to drinks such as Mike's Hard Lemonade and Smirnoff Ice, which have been known to appeal to young girls.
Contact the writer:
402-444-3131, sam.womack@owh.com
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