Four Loko controversy continued: Are the newly formulated drinks worth drinking anymore?

By Jessica Edmondson on Fri, Jan 21, 2011 at 10:00 am

The coined title, “black-out in a can” is now just an ordinary alcoholic drink without the body confusion of a stimulant mixed with a depressant. Although parents and officials are happy, the Four Loko Company, Phusion Projects, still begrudge the change as unnecessary. The Daily News reports the founders, Chris Hunter, Jeff Wright and Jaisen Freeman, stating:

"We have repeatedly contended – and still believe, as do many people throughout the country – that the combination of alcohol and caffeine is safe," said founders Chris Hunter, Jeff Wright and Jaisen Freeman in the company's statement. "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."

Although the year long scrutiny by media and officials alike have been debated with Phusion, the company finally acquiesced in the battle against FDA claims. What we see on shelves today is Four Loko without the controversy.

But the real concern that consumers and Phusion share is the quality of the once highly-popular drink. Will the change in content put a bad taste in consumer mouths? The verdict is still out.

For more information on the media comments, beverage contents, and newest releases of the remodeled Four Loko, check out the Four Loko Homepage.

Picture from ipowerrichmond.com

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Over the last several months, the creators of Four Loko have been getting slammed with bad media. Enraged parents have put the blame on the alcoholic and caffeinated drink as a reason for teenage causalities in underage drinking. Police and government officials alike have even moved to ban the product in numerous states. Ultimately, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) put an end to Four Loko’s party mix with threats to deem the beverage—and beverages like it—unsafe in December 2010. As a result, the creators stopped the shipment of the original drink and have taken out the caffeine ingredient all together in their newest version.

The original Four Lokos used to be a high-alcohol, high-caffeine beverage. But many—media and government officials—have claimed the drink as a toxic cocktail after viewing the content label more closely: one 23.5 ounce can of Four Loko contained as much alcohol content as six cans of Bud Light beer, and more than an 8 ounce cup of coffee's equivalence in caffeine. With the nix on the caffeine content, many consumers believe the drink is not worth drinking.