MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board has banned the sale in Alabama of canned drinks that combine caffeine and alcohol, said the Associated Press. An attorney for the ABC Board, Bob Martin, told the news agency that the ABC Board banned the drinks after they had been declared dangerous by the federal Food & Drug Administration (FDA).
ABC Board administrator Mac Gipson sent a letter on February 2 to beer wholesalers in Alabama informing them that it was now illegal to sell or distribute the drinks in the state.
"This agency has rescinded [image-nocss] its approval of beer and malt beverages which are produced containing a combination of caffeine and alcohol. These products may not be sold or distributed in the state of Alabama," Gipson wrote.
In the letter, Gipson also advised that the drinks should be removed immediately from store shelves.
Donna Alexander, executive director of the Alabama Wholesale Beer Association,told the news agency thatdistributors asked for the letter from Gipson to clarify whether the drinks could be sold or not. She said the FDA declared the drinks to be dangerous, but never banned their sale. She said the letter clarifies that the product is now banned.
Alexander said some manufacturers have reformulated the drinks and put them back on store shelves with just the alcohol and not the caffeine.(Click here for previous CSP Daily News coverage of alcohol-caffeine energy drinks.)
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