Four Loko Maker Phusion Projects To Remove Caffeine From Alcoholic Drinks

Phusion Projects, a manufacturer of alcoholic beverages with caffeine (CAB) four Loko, announced Tuesday that it would remove caffeine and other stimulants, two of its products throughout the United States.

Chicago-based company told the press that he will reformulate their products to remove the caffeine, guarana and taurine in the future will produce only caffeine-free version of Four Loko.

The company, which specializes in alcoholic beverages, currently makes two products CAB, four Loko and four increased in a variety of flavors. Drinks combine alcohol with caffeine, guarana and taurine, "Four" ingredients that gave the products on their behalf. The company also produces the earthquake, which he describes as "decaffeinated high gravity Lager".

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

"We are taking this step after attempting - unsuccessfully - navigation is difficult and politically sensitive regulatory framework both at the state and federal levels. On"

They said they were "more than ready" for the past few months, "to talk with regulators and politicians at the national, state and local levels" and that:

"We had hoped that clear, consistent, industry standards, regulatory finished alcoholic beverages with caffeine is the result of those conversations."

News coincides with the announcement that Charles Schumer E, senator of New York, also on Tuesday, saying that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the ruling that adding caffeine to alcoholic beverages is unsafe, effectively making products such as the four Loko Joose, and others like them, are prohibited for sale in the United States. "

In November 2009, FDA sent letters to 30 manufacturers, requiring them to provide proof that their CAB products are safe and that they will take regulatory action, including product seizures, if there was insufficient evidence of safety.

Federal officials were under pressure to take action against products CAB after several incidents were reported in the press, where the students were taken ill after eating foods CAB. In one incident last month, nine students from Central Washington University (CWU) ended up in intensive care after drinking four Loko. Some of the students were treated with alcohol poisoning.

Part of the pressure from critics products CAB, as a four-Loco, sometimes called "blackout in the bank," is that they do not have enough warning to explain their potential impact.

They argue that when they drink them, young people do not understand how they are drunk on alcohol and caffeine makes them feel more alert and capable than they actually are. Experts believe this makes them more likely to drive while drunk, take part in combat, or are victims of sexual violence.

Schumer, who said that he had campaigned for months to CAB products banned because of "serious risks to health and safety of consumers," says the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will also be notified manufacturers that they are "engaged in illegal the potential marketing of unsafe alcohol. "

However, Phusion Projects, "Hunter, Wright and Freeman argue that they feel" like many people across the country, that alcohol in combination with caffeine is safe.

"If it was not safe, popular drinks like rum and coke or Irish coffee, which have been consumed safely and responsibly for many years, will face the same testing that our products have recently experienced," they stressed, adding that if their products were unsafe, then, of course, the Federal agency responsible for approving them, taxes on tobacco and Trade Bureau (TTB), would not have approved them.

"Nevertheless, all our product formulas and packaging have been reviewed and approved by TTB before available to consumers," they added.

The company claims that also has sent an open letter to regulators this month, welcoming the opportunity to work with them to the "common standards for all liquor and malt-based alcoholic drink caffeine."

At the same time, the company, along with New York State Association of Importers of beer, has reached an agreement with New York State Liquor Authority to voluntarily stop selling caffeinated drinks of alcohol in the state, from this Friday, November 19.

Under the agreement, Phusion project will also support state alcohol education, New York, and educational programs.