Caffeine drink Four Loko stopped in New York, dangerous for teens

Caffeine drink Four Loko stopped in New York, dangerous for teens

Four Loko, the caffeinated alcoholic beverage that was banned by four states, would not be shipped in New York stores anymore by November 19. The decision was made by the energy drink manufacturer Phusion Projects, based in Chicago, in coordination with New York’s State Liquor Authority and Governor David Paterson. The deal also involved state-wide retailers and distributors who agreed not to sell Four Lokos in their stores by December 10.

“New Yorkers deserve to know that the beverages they buy are safe for consumption,” Paterson said.

The drinks which are popular among teenagers for its mixture of alcohol and caffeine, have been banned in the states of Michigan, Utah, Washington and Oklahoma after cases of drinkers being hospitalized were reported. Phusion says that a 23.5-ounce can of Four Loko contains 12 percent alcohol, roughly the equivalents of four bottles of beer.

“This drink is too easy for teens to get and too dangerous for them to consume,” Senator Joel Klein said in a statement. The State Liquor Authority said that Phusion was not able to able to prove the safety of their product.

“We have an obligation to keep products that are potentially hazardous off the shelves, and there is simply not enough research to show that these products are safe,” Dennis Rosen, State Liquor Authority Chairman, said in a statement.

Phusion said that caffeine and alcohol mixtures in beverages are safe but wanted to cooperate with the authorities and decided to take the initiative of halting shipments.

“We were the first company to take this voluntary step,” Phusion co-founder Jaisen Freeman said in a statement. “And we think it shows that we are not turning a deaf ear to what’s going on: that a select few have chosen to abuse our products, drink them while underage or break the law and sell them to minors.”

Posted by George Daniels on Monday November 15 2010, 8:29 AM EST. Ref: AP. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0