The flavored-malt-beverage drink is available again in Texas--and other states--for sale and distribution, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission announced Wednesday in a press release. Now, however, the beverage doesn't contain caffeine and other stimulants.
This all comes because the TABC recently approved reformulated versions of the drink that has been popular among binge-drinking college students.
The action by TABC officials came more than a month after the agency had asked members of [image-nocss] the alcoholic beverage industry to voluntarily halt sales of the caffeinated malt beverages in Texas.
At that time, Four Loko, manufactured by Phusion Projects, had been connected with several health concerns and violent deaths, including a car wreck in Denton, Texas, in which a 14-year-old Arlington girl was killed.
In the days after deciding to reformulate our products, we took immediate action to cease the production, shipment and sale of the caffeinated versions of our products, said Phusion Projects spokesperson Jeff Wright told the Arlington Star-Telegram. We're proud of the way we've mobilized our network of distributors and retailers to remove the old versions of our product from store shelves, where necessary. Our company has a history of working with regulators and making concessions, such as adding multiple warning labels to our cans and selling versions of our products with reduced alcohol content where required.
In November, government regulators had warned four makers of the energy drinks that caffeine added to their malt alcoholic beverages is an unsafe food additive.
Some of the controversial beverages, which often come in 23.5-ounce cans, contain the same amount of alcohol as four or five beers and the caffeine of four cups of coffee.
We applaud members of the alcoholic beverage industry for their commitment to uphold public safety despite any financial loss stemming from the removal of all caffeinated malt beverages from the retail market, said TABC assistant chief Dexter Jones. We appreciate their concern for the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Texas.
Not all such drinks have returned to shelves, however, according to the newspaper report.
Reformulated versions of Crunk, manufactured by Cold Springs, is pending approval, TABC officials said Wednesday. Reformulated versions of Joose and Core, brewed by Associated Brewing, are expected in the future. New Century Brewing has ceased production of Moonshot, while United Brands Co. has ceased production of Max and ESum.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.