Four Loko Maker Phusion Projects To Remove Caffeine From Alcoholic Drinks

Phusion Projects, the manufacturer of the caffeinated alcoholic beverage (CAB) Four Loko, announced on Tuesday that it will
be removing caffeine and two other stimulants from its products throughout the US.


The Chicago-based company told the press that it will be reformulating its products to remove caffeine, guarana and taurine and
will in future produce only non-caffeinated versions of Four Loko.


The company, which specializes in alcoholic beverages, currently makes two CAB products, Four Loko and Four MaXed in a
variety of flavors. The drinks combine alcohol with caffeine, guarana and taurine, the "four" ingredients that gave the products
their name. The company also makes Earthquake, which it describes as a "non-caffeinated High Gravity Lager".


Phusion's co-founders and current managing partners, Chris Hunter, Jeff Wright and Jaisen Freeman, said:


"We are taking this step after trying - unsuccessfully - to navigate a difficult and politically-charged regulatory environment at
both the state and federal levels."


They said they have been "more than willing" over the last several months to "talk with regulators and policymakers on the
national, state and local levels" and that:


"We hoped that clear, consistent, industry-wide standards regulating pre-packaged caffeinated alcoholic beverages would be the
outcome of these conversations".


The news coincides with an announcement that Charles E Schumer, Senator for New York, also made on Tuesday, stating that
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be ruling that adding caffeine to alcoholic beverages is unsafe, "effectively making
products such as Four Loko, Joose, and others like them, prohibited for sale in the United States".


In November 2009, the FDA sent letters to nearly 30 manufacturers, demanding that they furnish evidence that their CAB products
were safe and that they would take regulatory action, including product seizures, if there was inadequate proof of
safety.


Federal officials have been under pressure to take action against CAB products after several incidents were reported in the press
where college students have been taken ill after consuming CAB products. In one incident last month, nine students from Central
Washington University (CWU) ended up in the emergency room after drinking Four Loko. Some of the students were treated for
alcohol poisoning.


Part of the pressure from critics of CAB products like Four Loko, sometimes referred to as "blackout in a can", is that they do
not carry enough warning to explain their potential effects.


They argue that when they drink them, young people don't realize how drunk they are from the alcohol, and the caffeine makes
them feel more alert and capable than they really are. Experts suggest this makes them more likely to drive while drunk, become
involved in a fight, or fall victim to sexual assault.


Schumer, who says he has been campaigning for months to have CAB products banned because of "serious risks to consumer
health and safety" said that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will also be notifying manufacturers that they are "engaged in
the potential illegal marketing of unsafe alcoholic drinks".


However, Phusion Projects' Hunter, Wright and Freeman contend that they believe, "as do many people throughout the country"
that alcohol combined with caffeine is safe.


"If it were unsafe, 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," they stressed, adding that if their products were unsafe, then
surely the federal agency responsible for approving them, the Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), would not have
approved them.


"Yet, all of our product formulas and packaging were reviewed and approved by the TTB before being offered to consumers",
they added.


The company says it has also sent an open letter to regulators this month, welcoming the chance to work with them toward
"uniform standards for all liquor and malt-based caffeinated alcoholic beverages".


In the meantime, the company, together with the New York State Beer Wholesalers Association, has reached an agreement with
the New York State Liquor Authority to voluntarily discontinue selling caffeinated alcohol beverages in the state from this
Friday, 19 November.


As part of the agreement, Phusion Projects will also support New York State's alcohol education and awareness
programs.


Sources: Phusion Projects press release, Charles E Schumer press release, MNT Archives.


, PhD