By now, I’m sure everybody has heard of the FDA ban on Four Loko. I would like to take a look at it.
Four Loko isn’t a unique product, and it doesn’t seem to be especially dangerous. Basically, it’s a malt-liquor with caffeine added. Nothing new, there. The alcohol content maxes out at 12%, which means it’s about as strong as regular table wine... but some states require a lower alcohol content, no more than 6%. It was banned by the FDA for a few reasons.
First, the FDA contends that people drinking Four Loko were hallucinating. Personally, I find that hard to believe. Basically all this drink does is combine alcohol with caffeine, something that people have been doing for MANY decades. Think rum and coke, a very popular drink for a very long time, not to mention Irish Coffee, and Red Bull & vodka. And there is nothing about alcohol or caffeine that is hallucinogenic in nature… and no, combining them doesn’t change that.
Next, the FDA contends that the caffeine makes it impossible to tell that you’re getting drunk. Again, experience with other caffeinated alcoholic cocktails indicates otherwise. It’s the ALCOHOL that impairs judgment, not the caffeine.
One thing I think is a point is that the drink comes in a large, 23.5 oz can. For those that don’t know, a wine bottle holds 750 ml of wine, which is approximately 25 fluid ounces. As you can see, if you have a can that is 12% alcohol by volume, you’re basically drinking an entire bottle of wine with each can… and that’s a lot.
In my opinion, it’s not the caffeine that is causing problems, it’s people drinking the equivalent of an entire bottle of wine in a short period of time. Or two or three, as they open additional cans throughout the night.
Yes, Four Loko flavors the drinks to mask the alcohol taste, but so does Smirnov. You can actually find a bubble gum flavored vodka, if you look for it. And flavored malt beverages are common, too… think Mike’s Hard Lemonade and the entire range of Bartles & James flavors.
In short, Four Loko doesn’t offer anything new and dangerous, they’re just marketing to people who want to be drunk and wide awake… and, as any college student could tell you, being drunk is much more fun if you stay awake to enjoy it.
My opinion of this FDA ban is that it’s a huge overreaction to a minor issue. Think about it… with Four Loko banned, is the problem of caffeinated alcoholic drinks solved? By no means. People can still drink Irish Coffee, whiskey and soda, or even Red Bull and vodka. All that has happened is that the FDA got rid of one product.
And that’s a danger. Look, the FDA is saying they can remove any product that might be abused by some adults. If we accept that assertion, then any product on the market that has even the slightest degree of risk can be banned at some point in the future. If you ask me, that danger outweighs any danger possibly offered by Four Loko.
In my opinion, this whole thing is ridiculous. What should be banned are knee-jerk reactions to real-life problems faced by adults in our society. What should be banned are attempts by the federal government to control the lives of adults.
Monday, December 27, 2010
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For the record, since I believe you can find this information easier than me, are they also banning Joose? It has the same alcohol content, same caffeine, and everything. It's just made by a different company.
ReplyDeleteI agree that they should stay out of this issue. It's not like it's being marketed to children or anything.
I'll agree that it isn't being sold (legally) to children, although politicians don't understand that Schumer already made a statement saying that banning Four Loko is an essential step towards insuring the safety of our children. I haven't quite figured that one out, yet.
ReplyDeleteThe FDA sent warning letters to the following four companies who make the following products:
- Charge Beverages Corp.: Core High Gravity HG, Core High Gravity HG Orange, and Lemon Lime Core Spiked
- New Century Brewing Co., LLC: Moonshot
- Phusion Projects, LLC (doing business as Drink Four Brewing Co.): Four Loko
- United Brands Company Inc.: Joose and Max
Those are the products being banned. If you like, you can find the warning letter online at: http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm234109.htm
The best fix would be for the Congress to remember it makes laws and can't delegate this to the executive branch, by rule making/regulatory authority. Though there shouldn't be any reason why the various nannyists couldn't educate the public and/or seek a law banning whatever thru the democratic process.
ReplyDeleteThere should be any number of reasons why they can't do that. Alcohol is a legal product, as is caffeine. They are mixed together millions of times each night, and nobody claims the effect is harmful.
ReplyDeleteWhat is causing the observed problems is behavorial oriented. The people who consume these drinks want to get wasted and act out, so they do. Banning the drinks won't change that... they'll just choose other beverages to abuse.
With the disappearance of these drinkes, the problems will remain. So why ban the things?
We had an episode up in Arlington related to the drink. Some young gal....college age....had consumed at least two of the drinks and felt very sure in her ability to drive (the caffeine pumps you up enough to believe that)...and then proceeded to have an accident within just five minutes.
ReplyDeleteThe problem here is that alcohol should be served by itself with no real additives. Once you toss caffeine into the mixture....you create a different behavior.
My suggestion...if anyone questions this...go and buy three cans and drink them in the company of another person. Let them test your reflexes and your attitude. Let them even film you. And I think after a couple of hours of resting....you might agree that this is not a good mixture.
Your proposed experiment only tests half the equation; you have no control. All you're testing is whether somebody who drinks three cans of Four Loko gets plastered. Nothing in this experiment determines if the alcohol or the caffeine is the determining factor.
ReplyDeleteYou need to add two controls to this. The first is somebody drinking an equivalent amount of wine (since Four Loko has almost the same alcohol content and volume per container as wine), with no caffeine added. The second is somebody drinking the same amount of alcohol using whiskey (or rum, whatever) and a caffeinated beverage such as coke.
You see, anybody who drinks three bottles of wine is going to get plastered, with or without caffeine. What you have to determine is whether or not the caffeine in Four Loko makes things worse, AND whether or not the caffeine in normal cocktails (whiskey and soda) is any different from Four Loko.
Personally, I think you'll find the alcohol is to blame for most of it, along with the temperment of the folks doing the drinking.
As to caffeine making a drunk think he's okay to drive, that could easily be the alcohol. Alcohol impairs judgment, after all.