How Much Alcohol Was In The Original Four Loko?

Four Loko

Type	Malt beverage
Country of origin	United States
Introduced	2005
Alcohol by volume	6–14%
Flavor	Various

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What percent did Four Loko used to be?

A small crowd gathered in New York City’s Union Square with candles for the vigil, Some brought their guitars and bongos to play in tribute, and others shared stories about the good times. It was November 17, 2010, and earlier that day it had been announced that after months of legal headaches, Four Loko would remove the caffeine and other stimulants from its controversial beverage formula.

And so a small but mighty band of New Yorkers came together to mourn their blackouts, pukes, and raging hangovers together. It’s been a decade since that fateful day—a decade of tamer drunken adventures, a decade of having to mix vodka and Red Bull yourself, a decade that enabled the rise of the zero-sugar-added hard seltzer.

Four Loko, of course, is still available, but the original formula—lovingly dubbed “blackout in a can,” and frankly, a menace to society—has been off shelves for ten years now. And while the rise and fall of the original Four Loko happened in less than two years, few products have made such a lasting impression on the American drinking consciousness.

In 2005, Ohio State frat bro alumni Jeff Wright, Jaisen Freeman, and Christopher Hunter decided the world needed a super caffeinated, high-ABV alcoholic beverage, seemingly because people didn’t already do enough stupid things on their own. Inspired by the popularity of an energy beer called Sparks, they set out to produce a cherry-flavored, vodka-esque malt beverage, which they called Four, because it contained four notable ingredients: caffeine, taurine, guarana, and wormwood (the stuff absinthe is made from).

It was a flop. But you know what they say always does the trick when your product flops? Add camo. In its second, 2008 iteration, the one that would lift the beverage to notoriety, Four gained its “Loko,” grew to tall-boy size, cut the wormwood, and got a flashy neon camo look.

The alcohol content also doubled, taking the can from six to a whopping 12 percent ABV. Freeman told Grub Street that once the new cans hit New York bodegas, “it was pretty immediate.we couldn’t make it fast enough.” The drink, with as much alcoholic impact as roughly four beers and as much caffeine as roughly a cup and a half of coffee, tasted horrendously sweet, like rotting Fruit Gushers.

In completely non-scientific terms, it fucked you up so badly because the caffeine masked the effects of the alcohol for a time, leading you to drink more than you might otherwise. Arguably the most insane beverage to hit the market since there was actual cocaine in Coca-Cola, Four Loko’s revenue doubled from $45 million in 2009 to at least $100 million in 2010, Wright said.

There are tales of accidental nude break-ins and hallucinations attributed to Four Loko. There is an entire genre of Four Loko rap music on YouTube from the summer of 2010, a website devoted to Four Loko stories, and Reddit threads full of people’s craziest nights. But the fun couldn’t last. Colleges across the country began banning Four Loko after student hospitalizations were connected to the drink.

Several lawsuits were filed by families claiming their children’s deaths were caused by or linked to drinking Four Loko. (Four Loko’s statements at the time cited issues of “alcohol abuse and underage drinking.”) In November of 2010, the Federal Trade Commission sent a warning letter to several caffeinated alcoholic drink producers—including the makers of Joose, Max, Core High Gravity, and Moonshot—urging them to “take swift and appropriate steps to protect consumers.” All this prompted several states, including New York, to seek out bans on Four Loko, which brings us to the tale of a legendary act by an elected official. Pre-backlash, Four Loko contained alcohol, caffeine, taurine, guarana, and wormwood. These days, it just has caffeine. PAUL J. RICHARDS // Getty Images Felix Ortiz, New York State assemblyman, introduced legislation to ban Four Loko and other caffeinated alcoholic drinks in his state in the fall of 2010.

Shortly thereafter, NBC News asked if he might drink some himself to see what exactly the drink did to one’s body. Don’t knock it till you try it, as the old adage goes. He agreed, “to show exactly how detrimental and dangerous this was for the health of our children.” And so, under the supervision of doctors, Ortiz proceeded to drink “one or two” Four Lokos, watch his blood pressure spike wildly, and violently throw up.

“I think they gave me two or three pieces of pizza, trying to bring me back again,” he said of the experiment. (Imagine all the fun we’d have if politicians were not allowed to ban things without first having to publicly try them.) But with several lawsuits pending against them and the FTC threat looming, the creators of Four Loko got out ahead of the trouble and announced, on November 17, 2010, that they would be removing the caffeine, taurine, and guarana from their recipe.

New Yorkers took to Union Square to mourn. The company was stuck with $30 million of unsellable inventory that we can only presume some warehouse rats had a couple wild nights with. But the inventory that was already out in the world when the ban was announced.that’s a different story. The distributors had until December 10 to stop selling their existing stock, and the stockpilers didn’t take long to strike.

New York University students bought entire bodega stocks to resell to friends; cases were going for unheard of prices on eBay and Craigslist. Eddie Huang’s bar Xiao Ye, which was hosting Four Loko all-you-can-drink happy hours on the Lower East Side, was shut down after it’s third Four Loko raid in a matter of weeks.

How strong was original 4loko?

Blackout in a can: a brief history of Four Loko “Blackout in a can,” “The pregame and postgame,” and “Battery acid” are all terms that have been used in reference to potentially the most infamous drink on the market, Four Loko. For those who have been lucky enough to make it this far in life without tasting it, Four Loko is a line of alcoholic malt beverages sold by Phusion Projects that have garnered a reputation for being dangerously high in alcohol content.

This fear-inspiring metric varies by state, but Four Lokos generally range from 6% to 14% ABV (alcohol by volume). The four in Four Loko references its original recipe’s four key ingredients, and is now commonly attributed to a single 23.5 ounce can being the equivalent of four standard drinks — a misconception.

It is actually the equivalent of five and a half standard drinks, higher than the recommended maximum of four drinks in a day. Phusion Projects was founded by Chris Hunter, Jaisen Freeman, and Jeff Wright following their graduation from Ohio State University, where the three were members of the Kappa Sigma fraternity (shocking, right?).

Many of the original drink blends used by the company were birthed in their fraternity’s basement and party room, and the Four Loko itself came from the creators’ enjoyment of mixing caffeine and alcohol. Then, in 2005, Phusion Projects designed their prototype “energy beer” which would soon become known as Four Loko.

The original proposed recipe contained taurine, guarana, and caffeine, which are common ingredients found in energy drinks. The fourth proposed ingredient was wormwood, an ingredient used in absinthe that is believed to be psychoactive. After a year with low investment, the proposed inclusion of wormwood was dropped in favor of improving the flavor — which they very apparently haven’t done yet — and increasing the alcohol content that Four Loko would become infamous for.

In 2008, the drink’s popularity was on the rise, and by 2009 it became successful enough for international marketing. Unfortunately for Phusion Projects, and fortunately for college students across the country, a group of U.S state attorneys general began investigating companies that sold caffeinated alcoholic beverages on the grounds that these beverages were being inappropriately marketed to a teenage audience and had possible health risks, primarily blackouts.

Concern was also raised that the caffeine masked intoxication. Four Loko became the object of scrutiny in 2010, as colleges and universities across the United States began to see multiple injuries and blackouts caused by the drink’s misuse. This followed with multiple universities and states banning the dangerous concoction.

On Nov.17, 2010, the FDA sent a warning letter to four manufacturers of caffeinated alcoholic beverages, citing caffeine as an unsafe food additive. Following the ban of Four Loko, drinkers and those seeking cold hard cash purchased the drink in bulk, and a black market was created. The sellers charged nearly five times the original retail price.

In late December of 2010, Four Loko was reformulated; the packaging remained the same, but the caffeine, guarana, and taurine were removed. Thus, sales continued. Today, Four Loko’s reputation precedes the drink, and most major grocery store chains still withhold it from their shelves despite it being available in 49 U.S.

What did the original Four Loko have in it?

If you drink, you’ve got at least one booze you can’t stomach anymore because of one bad night. For a whole generation of young people, that booze is Four Loko. Just the smell is enough to bring back repressed (or blacked out) memories from long ago. You see, humans have been combining booze and caffeine for ages, but Four Loko is unlike any combination that came before it.

Long before there was Four Loko, Italians would spike espresso with grappa. The mixture was dubbed Caffe Corretto. In Spain, they would mix coffee with whiskey or brandy and call it Carajillo. Scottish monks made a caffeinated wine called Buckfast. Things changed in the ‘70s, when a Thai businessman mixed up an herbal tincture aimed at energy boosting called Krating Daeng, or Red Bull.

It’s considered the first energy drink and it’s going to be a big deal. Red Bull makes its way to America in 1997 and people are pumped. Coffee is out, Red Bull is in. Young people are especially into this concept. In 1999, members of the Kappa Sigma fraternity at Ohio State University start mixing energy drinks with alcohol at frat parties.

1. This catches on in sorority houses, bars, and other places as well.
2. Leave it to frat boys to crack such a code.
3. Sparks alcoholic energy drink hits the market in 2002.
4. It’s the first mass-produced alcoholic energy drink ever and it packs a serious punch.
5. It’s 6% ABV, which helps negates the fact that it doesn’t really taste good.

At least, presumably. Jeff Wright, Jaisen Freeman, and Christopher Hunter – three former Ohio State Kappa Sig bros – notice how popular Sparks appears to be and think they can do one better. In 2005, they found a company called Phusion Projects. The business is entirely dedicated to creating caffeinated alcohol, which is quite a mission statement.

The trio call themselves “their own target market.” They spend some time in R&D and develop a product called “Four.” It’s a caffeinated boozey beverage with 6% ABV that’s named for its four key ingredients: caffeine, taurine, guarana, and wormwood. For those who don’t know, wormwood is that thing in absinthe, so clearly this is a recipe for some interesting nights ahead.

Or not! Four is actually a massive failure. Phusion isn’t ready to throw in the towel, though. In 2008, they take a gamble on a new drink and they go all-in. Their new creation comes in a 23.5oz can, it’s got 12% ABV, and it costs just $2.50. They call it Four Loko.

Experts say one Four Loko is about four to six beers, one espresso shot, and one Red Bull, which is way more than anyone needs in one go, but man was it fun. Four Loko is a hit. People love it and can’t stop talking about the “blackout in a can,” which is something I thought only my friends and I called it.

The beverage is available in 46 states and gets the unofficial tagline: “Hyper, Horny, and Happy” thanks to The Ball State Daily News, Accurate. Although people love Four Loko, that love comes at a price. In the fall of 2008, 15 students from two different schools are hospitalized after drinking excessive amounts of Four Loko.

My max was always two and even that was too much, so I can only imagine how much these kids drank. My head hurts thinking about it. By 2009, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has its eyes on Phusion. The federal agency tells the company that mixing caffeine and booze (an upper and a downer) has never been considered “safe” and asks that they submit evidence that Four Loko isn’t dangerous.

Good luck with that! College kids catch wind that their beloved Four Loko is in danger of being axed or changed in 2010 and they go nuts trying to savor its potential final moments. A fraternity at my college had repeated Save Four Loko parties I remember them well.

That year, Four Loko triples its revenue, making an estimated $150 million, or 60 million cans of Four Loko. The Yale Daily News said the boozy beverage was “in a whirlwind romance with college students,” which is true and also such a Yale thing to say. Sen. Chuck Schumer, however, isn’t so taken with Four Loko.

He claims the drink is “designed to appear hip with flashy colors and funky designs that could appeal to younger consumers.” Maybe that’s true, but it doesn’t take much to convince college kids to try a crazy drink with a high booze content. Just saying.

Despite the valiant efforts of young people everywhere to save Four Loko, or keep it unchanged, in October 2010, authorities of all sorts start cracking down on the stuff. Ramapo College of New Jersey bans Four Loko, claiming it’s the reason more than 20 students on that campus had to be hospitalized that semester.

That same month, a man is arrested after breaking into a home and pooping all over it. His last memory? Drinking Four Loko. Oh, and nine students at Central Washington University are hospitalized after drinking Four Loko all night. Colleges, like the University of Maryland and Boston College, ban Four Loko, Wegmans stops selling it and states like Michigan, Washington, Utah, and Oklahoma do away with it too.

It’s quite the controversy. College kids are up in arms and they’re looking for policymakers to stand with them. New Yorkers find that in New York Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, who drinks two Four Lokos to prove how safe they are. In 15 minutes he learns the hard way how wrong he is when his blood pressure skyrockets and he barfs everywhere.

Finally, on November 17, 2010, Phusion announces that it’s removing the caffeine, guarana, and taurine from the Four Loko recipe. That night, a vigil is held in Union Square in New York for the old recipe, but it’s not totally over. Almost immediately, a Four Loko underground market emerges.

• People start stocking up on original formula Four Loko and selling them online for $50 or more.
• Meanwhile, Loko Corporate is stuck with $30 million worth of unsellable inventory.
• To this day, we don’t know what they did with it.
• The remastered Four Loko is released in December 2010.
• People are happy to see it back on the shelves, but not happy that it’s not the same.

In January 2011, an undercover raid finds that some stores in Chesterfield, Virginia are still selling the old stuff. Sadly, that operation is shut down. Four Loko’s boring new formula continues on with minimal controversy, and far less issues, for almost 10 years.

1. In April 2019, a new flavor is introduced: hemp,
2. We don’t know what that tastes like and we don’t necessarily want to find out, but it’s surely interesting.
3. Phusion also introduces a Four Loko Seltzer in November 2019, which it claims is the hardest seltzer in the universe at 12% ABV.
4. Probably not the seltzer you want to bust out at a backyard barbecue with family.

There’s no denying the heyday of Four Loko was quite a time to be alive. Nothing gold can stay, though. Four Loko may still exist, in new forms even, but it’ll never be quite the same. Sign up here for our daily Thrillist email and subscribe here for our YouTube channel to get your fix of the best in food/drink/fun.

How much caffeine did the original Four Loko have?

Cans of fruit-flavored Four Loko in the liquor department of a convenience store in Miami in 2010. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Joe Raedle/Getty Images Cans of fruit-flavored Four Loko in the liquor department of a convenience store in Miami in 2010. Joe Raedle/Getty Images Here at Shots, we’ve been watching the uproar over the alcoholic energy drink Four Loko ever since college kids last year reportedly started ending up in hospitals after drinking too much of the stuff.

We weren’t the only ones. A team of emergency room docs in New York provides some more data on how the faddish beverage led to some pretty messed up kids. Their findings were just published online today by the Annals of Emergency Medicine, The report describes 11 cases of young people who wound up at Bellevue Hospital Center during a four-month period in 2010 after drinking Four Loko.

The median age of these kids was 16.4 years, and nearly all of them were under 21. New York University pediatrician Deborah Levine, the study’s lead author, says that once the marketing campaign for the fruit-flavored canned drink got rolling in 2010, she and her colleagues began to see young people in the ER in a highly intoxicated state.

1. Several of these cases stood out: one kid was found on the subway tracks, another was unconscious at school,” Levine tells Shots.
2. These were exceptions to the typical Friday night teenage intoxication.
3. These were more extreme and hazardous circumstances.” The original Four Loko contained 12 percent alcohol (malt liquor) and 156 milligrams of caffeine.

That’s the equivalent of about four beers and two Red Bulls. It was cheap, too. One can costs less than $4 at most bodegas in New York, according to the study authors. Back in November, Phusion Projects, maker of Four Loko, said it would eliminate caffeine, guarana and taurine from the formula.

It was an apparent pre-emptive strike as the Food and Drug Administration prepared to take regulatory action against makers of drinks that blend booze and stimulants. But even if the reformulated Four Loko isn’t as potent as it once was, the study authors believe that its marketing has had a lasting effect.

The drink helped popularize the idea of combining caffeine and alcohol, which has since taken off, especially among teenagers and college students. Other products that combine alcohol and caffeine remain on the market, the doctors said. It seems it’s hard to go light with the combo, which is increasingly associated with injuries and ER visits.

As Shots has reported, cognitive psychologists have found that tipplers of caffeine-laden energy drinks mixed with alcohol may have a tougher time knowing when to stop than those who imbibe booze alone. Kelly Cleary, another doctor at Bellevue Hospital Center and Levine’s co-author, says that the “wide-awake drunk” effect of combining caffeine and alcohol is especially problematic for teens who are novice drinkers.

“It’s possible that these kids we saw drank much more than they would have if it wasn’t caffeinated,” Cleary says. We also wondered how these minors were getting their hands on the drink. Cleary and Levine say Four Loko’s bright colors and design make it look a lot like non-alcoholic energy drinks and ice teas.

Are Four Lokos 14%?

A: The alcohol content of Four Loko varies by state, but is typically available in 8%, 10%, 12% or 14% alcohol by volume (ABV).

Will 2 Four Lokos get you drunk?

They don’t make Four Loko like they used to. When the neon-colored alcoholic drink relaunched without caffeine, it lost some of the punch that made Four Loko a household name among college students in the mid-2000s. But don’t worry, there’s still plenty of alcoholic content in that tall bright can — more than you might realize.

Four Loko relaunched in 2014, and to this day researchers are worried about the damage it could be causing due to its high alcoholic percentage. The culprit? That brightly colored label. Even without the caffeine addition that made the old Four Loko so dangerous, the alcohol content, which ranges from 8 percent to 14 percent (like the company’s hard seltzer ) is more than enough to do the job.

Research published in The American Journal of Public Health Research found that in Florida, more than 60.7 percent of 300 students underestimated the number of alcoholic drinks in a Four Loko by one or more drinks. In Virginia, 71.1 percent of 197 students got it wrong by one or more drinks, and in Montana, 44.6 percent of 336 students were off-base.

In this study, lead author Matthew Rossheim, Ph.D., of George Mason University, has shown that students “grossly underestimate” how much alcohol is actually in a can of Four Loko. His earlier work also suggests the same. The 14 percent ABV Four Loko cans are the equivalent of 5.5 drinks, these authors say.

But they can still read “4 3/4” servings. “Consuming a single one of these products over the course of two-hours can put youth and young adults well over the legal per se driving limit of 0.08 g/dL; consuming two cans puts them at risk of alcohol poisoning,” Rossheim says.

Will one 4loko get you drunk?

One can of Four Loko contains as much alcohol as four to five 12-ounce cans of regular beer and is not safe to drink on a single occasion.

Why did 4 Loko get banned?

FDA deems Four Loko dangerous and removes from shelves Alcoholic energy beverage Four Loko was removed from shelves after the FDA announced that the drinks were an unsafe mix of alcohol and caffeine. John McCullough – Mustang Daily It was in 1933 that prohibition, which caused gangsters and moonshiners to profit from the illegal production and sales of liquor, was lifted.

Now, nearly 80 years later, certain areas of the United States are facing a more narrowly targeted prohibition. It is one which may cause many Cal Poly students to change their weekend routines. Now, due to pressures by activists around the country, the sale of the alcoholic energy drink Four Loko has been banned in several locations.

Following a press release by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Four Loko’s parent company, Phusion Projects, released a statement announcing that the company has stopped production and shipment of its products that include caffeine. On Nov.17, the FDA sent a letter to four companies that produce and sell caffeinated alcoholic drinks.

The letter said the drinks were unsafe and the FDA could ban the drinks under Federal Law. Phusion Projects was a recipient of the letter. But is it dangerous? There have been in the of Loko-related incidents. However, there have also been which label Four Loko as perfectly safe to consume. Phusion Projects said its product has “roughly the same alcohol content as wine and some craft beers, and far less alcohol by volume than hard liquor.” What the company did not mention is the fact that most students who consume Four Loko don’t drink it in the same way they drink the other types of alcoholic beverages mentioned in Phusion Projects’ statement.

Eddie Barakut, manager of Cork N’ Bottle in San Luis Obispo, said he watched the drink’s representatives come into his shop and pull the product off the shelves. Barakut said that if the FDA thinks Four Loko is dangerous, they must have legitimate reasons.

1. It was a very popular drink here,” Barakut said.
2. Now the shelves where Four Loko sat, along with other caffeinated alcoholic drinks, are empty.
3. I don’t know when we’re going to get the new version without the caffeine or even if we’re going to carry it,” Barakut said.
4. Most of Barakut’s customers are college students, regardless of what they’re buying.

This makes it hard for him to determine exactly who was purchasing Four Lokos, he said. Travis Schecter was one of those customers until he graduated last spring. Schecter estimated he drank an average of two to three Four Lokos per week before graduating from Cal Poly.

That estimate does not include the other alcohol Schecter consumed alongside the Four Lokos, he said. “I think it’s a good idea they’re getting rid of the caffeine,” Schecter said. “In the most amazing way possible, there were times where I drank a couple in a night and I felt my heart hurting after. I’m probably still going to drink coffee or energy drinks before I go out.

It’s not going to change anything. If people want that rush and they’ve experienced that rush they’re going to find a way to imitate and emulate that feeling. If they didn’t take the caffeine out, I would definitely still be drinking them.” In college campuses across the country, the abuse of alcohol is a constant topic of discussion and controversy.

Cal Poly head of counseling Elie Axelroth said a vast majority of instances where students are kicked off campus are alcohol related. Axelroth couldn’t comment professionally on whether or not caffeine induced drinks like Four Loko are more dangerous than other alcoholic beverages, but she did share advice she said she often gives students who struggle with substance abuse.

If a student is worried about the use of a substance there are a few things the student can do, Axelroth said. “One thing they can do is look at their sleep,” Axelroth said. “Are they getting enough? Another is if they are getting exercise and eating right.

Are they experiencing more anxiety? And then they should ask themselves if the drinks are the cause. It makes sense for the students to ask themselves, how it is affecting them.” Whether or not the drink is officially declared as dangerous is up to the FDA. The key issue the FDA focused on was stimulants coupled with alcohol.

These stimulants include three of the drink’s active ingredients — caffeine, taurine and guarana — all of which are found in non-alcoholic energy drinks like Red Bull, Monster and Rockstar. The addition of the fourth ingredient, alcohol, is what makes Four Loko unique from its competitor energy beverages.

In California, Four Loko contains roughly 24 ounces of flavored malt-liquor at 12 percent alcohol content. One tall can is equivalent to almost six Natural Light beers, to put it in perspective. In an released by the company’s three co-founders — Chris Hunter, Jeff Wright and Jaisen Freeman — Phusion disregarded any claims that its product is unsafe or marketed in any sort of deceiving fashion.

“We’re pleased that the FDA commended us for our decision to reformulate our products nationwide to remove caffeine, guarana and taurine,” the statement said. “As we stated on Nov.16, we have stopped the production and shipment of all our products containing these ingredients.

1. We will continue to work closely and cooperatively with national and state regulators.” Currently, Phusion is not taking any requests for interviews, a spokesperson for the company said.
2. The FDA gave the four recipients of its letter 15 days to respond with a written explanation of how they plan to change the product.

It was Phusion’s decision to pull its product off the shelves and to stop making the caffeinated beverage. Consumers like Schecter may not be able to get their caffeine-alcohol combo from one drink, but he said there still are other options. “When I say it’s going to be a Four Loko night my friends know exactly what that means,” Schecter said.

How many shots are in a Four Loko?

They’re not throwing away their shots. They’re serving three new flavors of crazy. After a brief fling with spiked seltzer, controversial beverage firm Four Loko is now returning to its blackout-drunk roots selling poundable bottles of high-alcohol shots.

Coincidentally, the announcement comes exactly one week before the US election. Aptly titled “Pregame,” the ready-to-drink mixed shots clock in at 13.9% ABV (except in Tennessee, where it’s 10%), Delish reported, Bottles of roughly four shots each come in three wildly different flavors: Sour Blue Razz, Lemonade and Sour Peach.

They are non-carbonated unlike their spritzy predecessors. Unfortunately, as of right now, Four Loko fans can only find the stupor-inducing shots in a handful of Southeast states: Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Pregame represents a return to form for a company whose signature alcoholic energy drink is often referred to as “blackout in a can.” In 2010, Four Loko removed the drink’s caffeine after the so-called ” canned cocaine ” was blamed for several hospitalizations, which resulted in the drink being banned in some states, including New York.

Why did Four Loko removes caffeine?

Four Loko Drops Caffeine From Controversial Alcoholic Energy Drink Police blamed controversial alcoholic drink for making dozens sick. November 16, 2010, 3:18 AM Nov.17, 2010— – The makers of a controversial are removing the caffeine from the product following widespread outcry over safety concerns.

Dozens of students have been hospitalized after drinking, police said. Four states have now banned the product, and New York Sen. Charles Schumer’s office is reporting that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is set to rule as early as today that the drink is unsafe and may be banned. The makers of the drink, Chicago-based Phusion Projects, maintain their product is safe, but say they’re removing the caffeine “after trying unsuccessfully to navigate a difficult and politically-charged regulatory environment at both the state and federal levels,” in a statement posted on their,

It’s a bittersweet victory for Joe and Vicki Keiran, who say their 20-year-old son, Jason, died after becoming wired and drunk after drinking at least three cans of the energy drink Four Loko. The amount he consumed was the equivalent of 18 light beers and 6 cups of coffee.

• Each fruit punch-flavored 23.5-ounce can has about 2.82 ounces of alcohol and about 156 milligrams of caffeine.
• The family’s attorney, Don Van Dingenen, says the Florida State sophomore picked up a friend’s gun after partying with his roommates for 30 hours straight on Sept.17.
• They say he started to act crazy.

He pointed the gun at his head and everyone else. He said ‘I realize I’m freaking you guys out take the gun away from me,'” Van Dingenen said. The Keirans believe the drink caused their son to become so manic and erratic that he accidentally shot himself.

• The medical examiner’s office has not ruled on whether Jason Keiran’s death was an accidental shooting or suicide.
• However, friends who witnessed the tragedy say it was an accident and his parents say he would never have taken his own life on purpose.
• “I just miss him more and more every day I wish he would e-mail me I wish he would call me – I wish he was coming home for Thanksgiving,” Vicki Keiran said.

Are Four Lokos still strong?

Press Release For Immediate Release Contact: Danielle Hawkins [email protected] 703-993-1931 New studies from George Mason University show that young drinkers still dangerously underestimate alcohol content. (Fairfax, VA) Supersized alcopops pose unique risks to young drinkers, despite new serving size labels mandated by the Federal Trade Commission. Two new studies led by Dr. Matthew Rossheim at George Mason University’s College of Health and Human Services examine the issue.

1. Supersized alcopops—such as Four Loko—are sugar-sweetened beverages with as much as 14% alcohol-by-volume (abv) or 5.5 standard alcoholic drinks in one 23.5 oz. can.
2. The studies looked at consumption in three states and found that most college students who drank Four Loko first did so when they were under the legal drinking age, many experienced dangerous effects such as blacking out or vomiting while consuming it, and most grossly underestimated its alcohol content despite bearing new mandated labels.

Study Shows New FTC-Mandated Labels Do Not Adequately Deter Overconsumption One of the studies, published today in the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, surveyed young college students in three states to assess how accurately they could estimate the alcohol content in Four Loko, the most commonly consumed supersized alcopop among underage drinkers.

Using survey data collected in college classrooms by Rossheim and colleagues, the study found that even when cans included the Federal Trade Commission’s newly-mandated label, the majority of young adults (57%) underestimated Four Loko’s alcohol content by one or more drinks. Students were more successful at estimating the alcohol content of Four Loko’s 8% alcohol version (sold in Montana) than its higher alcohol concentrations (sold in Virginia and Florida).

More than 60% of Florida students and more than 70% of Virginia students underestimated Four Loko’s alcohol content by one or more standard drinks, compared to 45% of Montana students. Nearly one-third (31%) of participants in Florida and nearly one-half (49%) of participants in Virginia underestimated the alcohol content of Four Loko by two or more standard drinks, compared to only 4% in Montana.

• Even with the FTC-mandated labels, college students are drastically underestimating the amount of alcohol in a single can.
• In states that sell 12% abv Four Loko, 65% of students underestimated it alcohol content by at least one drink and 38% underestimates by two or more drinks,” explains Rossheim.
• This underestimation is dangerous and could lead to overconsumption, blacking out, and decisions to drive after drinking, among other risky behaviors.” Females were twice as likely as males to underestimate alcohol content by one or more drinks and three times as likely to underestimate alcohol content by two or more drinks.

Students who had never heard of or seen Four Loko before were also twice as likely to underestimate the alcohol content by one or more drinks compared to those who were aware of it. Study Shows First-Time Drinkers Experienced Dangerous Effects, Particularly in States Where Four Loko has Higher Alcohol Content A companion study, published in August in the same journal, assessed first time consumption of Four Loko among college students.

Drawing on the experiences of 336 underage college students at universities in Virginia, Florida, and Montana, the study found that nearly all respondents who had consumed Four Loko first did so while underage (93%). The study also asked about consequences from drinking Four Loko. Students in Virginia and Florida, where Four Loko’s alcohol by volume ranges from 12 to 14 percent, were twice as likely to black out and vomit their first time drinking it as students in Montana, where only the 8% version is available.

More than half (57%) of students consumed at least one can their first time, and 10% drank two or more cans. Of underage drinkers who finished at least one can, 36% blacked out and 21% vomited. Drinkers who were male, paid for the drink, or tried it at a younger age were far more likely to drink at least one entire can.

“These studies suggest that the weaker version of Four Loko available in Montana gives students a better shot at accurately estimating its alcohol content and avoiding blacking out or vomiting on first use,” explains Rossheim. “Limiting the alcohol content of these beverages could help reduce the harmful effects they have on young people.” Following the death of a 14-year old girl who had consumed supersized alcopops, Canada reclassified the beverages last May and restricted the alcohol content in each container to 1.5 standard alcoholic drinks.

In 2015, 17 U.S. State Attorneys General wrote to the manufacturer of Four Loko requesting that they reduce the abv of their product from 12% to the industry standard of 8%. Beyond ignoring this request, the manufacturers have since released several new flavors with even greater alcohol content, 14% abv.

1. These products now deliver almost a six-pack of beer’s worth of alcohol in a single serving can,” said Rossheim.
2. In the absence of voluntary action, it is urgently important that legal or regulatory actions are taken to reduce the abv of supersized alcopops, to mitigate the risks they pose to young people.” ### About George Mason University George Mason University is Virginia’s largest and most diverse public research university.

Located near Washington, D.C., Mason enrolls 37,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. Mason has grown rapidly over the past half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity and commitment to accessibility.

For more information, visit https://www2.gmu.edu/, About the College of Health and Human Services George Mason University’s College of Health and Human Services prepares students to become leaders and shape the public’s health through academic excellence, research of consequence, and interprofessional practice.

The College enrolls 1,917 undergraduate students and 950 graduate students in its nationally recognized offerings, including: 5 undergraduate degrees, 12 graduate degrees, and 11 certificate programs. The College is transitioning to a college public health in the near future.

Do 4 Lokos taste good?

Julia Collins/Tasting Table Known for containing more than five alcoholic beverages in one can, Four Loko has a unique reputation in the canned alcoholic beverage world, notes George Mason University, It’s carbonated, has a beer-like taste, and yet can be very sweet.

That interesting combination of experiences has led many a college student to try one of these, but be warned: Drinking an entire Four Loko by yourself is probably a dangerous idea unless you have the tolerance of Frank Gallagher from “Shameless.” Four Loko is an interesting brand, with a history that includes college controversies, FDA warnings, and, at one time, its own black market.

And since we know these drinks fascinate many and don’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon, we took it upon ourselves to try (almost) every flavor the brand has to offer. After all, if you’re going to take a stab at this funky carbonated drink, you should choose a flavor that is less offensive than the others.

How much does a 4 Loko cost?

Discussion – This study confirmed that Four Loko is still being sold in 48 states and Washington, D.C. ( Rossheim et al., 2015 ). Furthermore, in each of these states, retailers claimed to sell Four Loko with 12% abv or higher. Appropriate regulatory agencies should determine whether these practices are in compliance with state alcohol regulations – including proper classification as a beer-type product and pricing practices. The most alarming findings from this study indicate that many U.S. retail outlets now sell Four Loko products in the new 14% abv formulation. To deter youth from consuming dangerous quantities of Four Loko ( Rossheim et al., under review ), appropriate regulatory agencies should consider placing limits on the alcohol content of ready-to-drink alcohol products or, as has been done with other alcohol products in numerous jurisdictions, simply banning these products altogether ( Grossman et al., 2018 ). Legislatures should also consider pricing policies that increase the price of these products including raising their tax rate, reclassifying their beverage-type, and establishing a minimum unit price for alcohol. Reclassification of supersized alcopops as distilled spirits would reduce their availability at the retail locations where youth most often obtain alcohol ( Rossheim, Thombs, & Treffers, 2018 ). Given the large between-State variation in the price per ounce of alcohol in Four Loko, more research is needed to examine the impact that increased excise taxes could have on retail price. In addition, State Attorneys General should take immediate action to require Phusion Projects, LLC to reduce the alcohol content of their ready-to-drink products. The current study casts light on Four Loko retail pricing practices, which helps explain why youth have a preference for these products. This study is consistent with previous investigations that found Four Loko to be among the least expensive ready-to-drink alcohol products available in the retail market ( DiLoreto et al., 2012 ). Adjusting for inflation, the average price per ounce of Four Loko in the DiLoreto and colleagues (2012) study ($0.82 in 2011) would be approximately $0.92 in September 2018, i.e., when data for the present study were collected ( Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019 ). Consistent with these previous estimates, we found that the overall average price per ounce of alcohol in Four Loko was $0.91 (SD = 0.14). However, this overall price may obscure how price trends for the 12% and 14% abv formulations differ. In particular, the new 14% abv Four Loko cost $0.16 less per ounce of alcohol ( M = $0.84, SD = $0.11) compared to the 12% abv Four Loko products ( M = $1.00, SD = $0.14), t (342) = 11.5, p < 0.0001). Thus, although the inflation-adjusted prices of 12% abv Four Loko are $0.08 more expensive than they were in 2011 per ounce of alcohol, the new 14% abv Four Loko products are $0.08 less expensive than the inflation-adjusted 2011 price. The price of Four Loko (per ounce of alcohol) is roughly one-half the average price of beer and other FABs ( DiLoreto et al., 2012, Table 1). Thus, the popularity of these products among underage drinkers is likely driven – in part – by their low price per standard drink. Of public policy importance, the low price of Four Loko also suggests that it may be misclassified as a beer-type product, which would have major tax and distribution consequences for the producer as well as public health implications ( Rossheim, Thombs, & Treffers, 2018 ). When compared to other alcohol products with similar abv (i.e., 13–15% abv), the average price of 14% abv Four Loko ($0.84 per ounce of alcohol) is closer to the price of low-end fortified wine (range $1.03-$1.15) than that of other FABs (range $1.63-$2.66) ( DiLoreto et al., 2012, Table 4, inflation-adjusted). There has been a history of so-called FABs being in violation of the law – specifically, the U.S. federal rule defining the amount of flavors and other non-beverage materials containing alcohol that can be added to a beer or malt product and still have it considered a beer or malt product by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) for the purposes of production, taxation, composition, labeling, and advertising ( TTB, 2005 ). While malt products with such a high abv can be produced, it is difficult to do so without increasing the strong malt flavor of those products. Given that Four Loko has very little malt taste, it is plausible that a substantial amount of non-malt-derived alcohol has been added to these products, in possible violation of the TTB rule. Moreover, Four Loko's low price per volume of alcohol compared to beers of similar abv suggests that it is likely to be in violation of these federal regulations. Therefore, it is urgently important that the TTB objectively test the formulation of Four Loko ( Rossheim, Thombs, & Treffers, 2018 ). The finding that 14% abv Four Loko products cost less per standard alcoholic drink than the 12% abv products suggests that policies reducing the products' abv may also increase their retail price per standard drink. The findings of this study suggest that bulk purchase discounts are not uncommon. This is concerning given the strong associations between price and consumption ( Wagenaar, Tobler, & Komro, 2010 ), as well as the reality that consuming even one of these products on a single occasion is an unsafe practice ( FTC, 2013 ). The appropriate regulatory agencies should consider prohibiting bulk purchase discounts on Four Loko at the retail level.

When did 4 Lokos change?

After 15 years, the “blackout in a can” remains a garish reminder of the fine line between pleasure and harm. – The last thing I remember was the sunset. It was a Wednesday evening in 2010 as my friend and I brown-bagged our Four Lokos at the riverbank on Brooklyn’s still-undeveloped Dumbo waterfront.

We had been covering the uproar around the alcoholic energy drink for a local publication, and decided to see what the fuss was about for ourselves. I had a few sips of the purple concoction. It tasted of the artificial tang of Smarties with a foreboding bitterness; the sun set over the skyline, and then—nothing.

I was told later that we ate pizza, that I called my partner, that I ran. somewhere, and that I hadn’t even finished my can. Oh wait, there was one more memory: This felt weirder, wilder and darker than being drunk. To quote Ralph Wiggum: ” I’m in danger! ” Fifteen years ago, Four Loko as we know it came to life.

Parent company Phusion Projects was founded in 2005 by Ohio State University students Chris Hunter, Jaisen Freeman and Jeff Wright, who noticed the ascendant popularity of Red Bull and vodka, and thought to combine the speedball-lite effect into a single product. But it wasn’t until 2008 that they began packaging the drink—a mind-boggling, heart rate–boosting combination of alcohol, sugar, caffeine, guaraná and taurine—in a camo-printed tallboy as bright as a poison frog, and doubled the drink’s alcohol content from 6 percent to 12 percent ABV.

When people remember the era of Four Loko, this is what they’re talking about. And though drinks that combined malt liquor and energizing additives existed before Four Loko, nothing captured a particular moment in American culture—one in the midst of a recession, birthing a new wave of internet culture and in which millennials were coming of age—quite like Four Loko, the “blackout in a can.” @fourloko No story like a Loko story ♬ original sound – nostalgia central🎶 By the time Four Loko gained national distribution in 2008, its reputation had already caught up with it.

That same year, physicians petitioned the FDA to regulate energy drinks, and in 2009 attorneys general from 25 states succeeded in pressuring MillerCoors to remove caffeine from its Four Loko predecessor, Sparks. By 2010, stories were regularly hitting the news about students being hospitalized for high blood pressure and alcohol poisoning after drinking Four Loko, and politicians like Senator Chuck Schumer called for bans.

Brooklyn Assemblyman Félix Ortiz, in an attempt to prove to constituents how dangerous it was, drank as much Four Loko as he could in an hour on New York’s NBC station, with a doctor measuring his vital signs. His blood pressure shot up, and eventually he vomited off-screen.

He urged New York to ban the beverage. “I was the first legislator around the country to really develop the momentum of banning Four Loko from the small stores and supermarkets,” he tells me. (Ortiz, despite being one of the orchestrators of the political response against Four Loko, did not even realize the drink contained alcohol when he was interviewed for this story.) This backlash, however, had the effect of making Four Loko all the more enticing to a number of college students and young adults.

“It was the 20-year-old version of snap bracelets, where the notoriety and the popularity are kind of inextricably linked to their prohibition,” says cocktail expert and author John deBary. “It was always like, Hey, did you hear about this thing that New York City is banning? Or, Hey, you hear about that kid who died of drinking Four Loko? Let’s drink it,” Its reckless appeal was only intensified by its relative lack of marketing, which made it feel like a cool, dangerous secret you were let in on.

• Four Loko hit at a time when social media still mostly consisted of manually uploading photos from your digital camera to Facebook.
• Day-after albums of everyone getting blitzed, with unmistakable camo cans littered around the dorm, served as their own advertisement.
• It was also a time when chefs, whether spurred by the austerity of the recession or just in response to contemporary trends—including the nascent craft cocktail revival, molecular gastronomy and other prevalent “nanny state” legislation around calorie counts and salt content—were conspicuously embracing the lowbrow.

“There was this initial secret backlash, and then this very overt backlash to the buttoned-up nature of serious cocktail bars,” says deBary. In 2010, Robert Sietsema wrote in The Village Voice about the “glamorization of what used to be the substratum of the restaurant industry” happening at the same time.

We saw the rise of brash, bro-food culture like Epic Meal Tim e, which happily endorsed Four Loko ; chefs like David Chang and Thomas Keller declared their love for fast food; and restaurateur Eddie Huang specifically embraced the controversial beverage, attempting to throw an all-you-can-drink Four Loko party after the New York State Liquor Authority announced it was considering banning the drink.

“Now I gotta figure out how to give people enough Four Loko so they can get their blackout,” he told the Daily News, “People like to black out.” ” Nothing captured a particular moment in American culture—one in the midst of a recession, birthing a new wave of internet culture and in which millennials were coming of age—quite like Four Loko, the ‘blackout in a can.’ ” The media attention spurred people who might not otherwise have cared to pick a side in the Four Loko debate, whether it was banning the drink to protect teenagers from hospitalization, or letting consumers make their own choices, even if they were wildly dangerous.

• On one hand, this is obviously a product that should be regulated.
• Really, it’s not a product that needs to exist at all,” says Dave Infante, author of Fingers, a newsletter about American drinking culture.
• But on the other hand, as many argued at the time, the alcoholic beverage industry had long been finding sneaky ways to market to younger drinkers, whether it was through flashy packaging or candy-like flavors.

“Four Loko can be bad or dangerous or ill-advised and also not be wrong about the fact that it’s being unfairly targeted because its peer group, industrially speaking, is more or less doing the same thing,” explains Infante. Eventually, the Ortizes and SLAs of the world won out.

In November 2010, Four Loko announced it would remove the caffeine, guaraná and taurine from its formula, in response to an FDA warning, The change rendered it effectively the same as any other malt beverage on the market. In response, fans stockpiled cans of the original recipe while bloggers attempted to reverse-engineer the drink out of malt liquor, candy and caffeine pills, but mostly, people moved on to the next drinking trend.

Four Loko still exists, keeping up with trends by introducing a hard seltzer, flavored shots and Four Loko GOLD, a 14 percent ABV expression, though it has never quite recaptured the zeitgeist. @fourloko Life but make it ✨Loko✨ ♬ i love being dramatic – asstronomyvinyl Its influence, however, can still be seen today.

• Four Loko “opened the door to this idea that malt liquor wasn’t stuff that came in 40s exclusively, and didn’t have to be marketed like Olde English,” says Infante.
• The colorful tallboys of hard seltzer and flavored malt beverages that now fill convenience store fridges—though not nearly as alcoholic, and strictly caffeine-free—sell the same story: This can is made to party.

As luck would have it, on a recent Wednesday I found myself among colleagues, wine glasses in hand, sampling cans of both the OG Four Loko (there was a collector among us) and the current, neutered offering. Tasting notes ranged from “peach ring with an emphasis on the ring” to “what Port Authority tastes like.” But Four Loko was never about the taste.

1. On the subway home, after drinking the equivalent of a third of a can, my brain crackled and buzzed.
2. Even a few more sips could probably have tipped me over the edge, but right there I was alert and giddy and loose.
3. Of course Four Loko became so popular; this felt great,
4. Highbrow alcohol trends have a way of purposefully evading the fact that we’re dealing with a mind-altering substance.

Four Loko, for better or worse, served as a direct, garish reminder of intoxication, It’s a dangerous thing we’re playing with, a fine line between pleasure and harm. But in anything that pushes at that edge, whether it’s Bud Light Lime-a-Ritas at the pool party, Espresso Martinis at the ritzy cocktail bar, or any drink served alongside a mini can of Red Bull, the spirit of Four Loko remains.

How many beers is a 12% Four Loko?

Four Loko “ignored” requests – Yep, that’s what it looks like. PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images Just because these undergraduates underestimated the amount of alcohol in a can of Four Loko, that doesn’t mean that everyone does. Four Loko, though, has faced some blowback about their labeling before.

1. In 2011, the Federal Trade Commission demanded that Four Loko’s parent company Phusion Projects, LLC, change the labeling, and argued that 11 and 12 percent ABV Four Lokos were marketed as single-serving beverages, but actually contained as much alcohol as four to five beers.
2. Phusion Projects complied with the changes, though Jaisen Freeman, co-founder, Phusion Projects, LLC told Consumerist that the company stood by the clarity of the packaging.

Rossheim would like to see Four Lokos limited to 8 percent ABV for a 23.5 ounce can. He’s not the only one. In 2015, 17 state attorneys actually wrote to Phusion Projects, LLC demanding the reduction in alcohol content to 8 percent ABV, which they called the “industry standard.” “The company not only ignored their request but has since released several new flavors with even higher abv (14%),” says Rossheim.

• In the absence of voluntary compliance, it is urgently important that legal or regulatory actions be taken to reduce the alcohol by volume of supersized alcopops.” Again, Inverse has reached out to Phusion Projects for comment.
• As it stands, it’s actually far more confusing than it seems to figure how many drinks are in a classic Four Loko than it seems.

If Rossheim’s results hold up, it’s hard enough for undergrads when they’re sober, let alone in the midst of a frat party disaster. Abstract: Background: Four Loko, the leading supersized alcopop brand, is a pre-mixed alcoholic beverage containing up to 5.5 standard alcoholic drinks in a can.

In 2013, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) mandated the addition to Four Loko cans of a label indicating its alcohol content in standard drinks, presented as “alcohol per serving” and “servings per container.” Objective: The current study investigated whether college students accurately estimate the alcohol content in cans of Four Loko bearing the FTC mandated labels.

Method: Undergraduate student drinkers (n = 833; 51.6% women) in three states (Florida, Montana, and Virginia) were provided an empty Watermelon Four Loko can and asked to determine the number of standard drinks it contained, using 12-ounce regular beer (Budweiser) equivalents.

• In Florida and Virginia, Watermelon Four Loko contains 4.70 standard alcoholic drinks; in Montana, it contains 3.13.
• Results: More than 60% of Florida students and more than 70% of Virginia students underestimated Four Loko’s alcohol content by one or more standard drinks, compared to 45% of Montana students.

Multivariable logistic regression analysis found the following variables were associated with greater odds of underestimating Four Loko’s alcohol content by one or more standard alcoholic drinks: being female (AOR = 2.2), having never seen nor heard of Four Loko (AOR = 1.9), and residing in Florida (AOR = 1.7) or Virginia (AOR = 2.8) versus Montana.

Why did Four Loko fail?

4 Reasons Four Loko Was Controversial –

Stimulants in the drink delayed the “feelings of drunkenness,” in many cases causing a person to consume more alcohol than he or she might otherwise. In effect, it was argued, Four Loko’s formula made it difficult for users to gauge how dangerously drunk they were becoming. This was thought to be especially true of young, inexperienced drinkers, who are typically less familiar with or less concerned about the signs of severe intoxication. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that drinkers who consume alcohol mixed with caffeinated energy drinks are three times more likely to binge-drink and twice as likely to report being taken advantage of sexually. (Source: The Boston Globe) These people also more likely to engage in drunk driving, risky behavior, and violence, as well as suffer alcohol poisoning, heart attack, coma and death. Drinking just two cans of original Four Loko in an hour was considered equivalent to chugging 10-12 beers. Since the human body can’t metabolize alcohol that quickly, the alcohol builds up in your bloodstream and can do crazy things like shut down the respiratory centers of your brain. Four Loko cans were brightly colored and arguably marketed in such a way that made them almost indistinguishable from non-alcoholic energy drinks. Many also accused Four Loko’s producer, Phusion, of marketing to an underage audience and promoting binge drinking.U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) is on the record as saying Four Loko was “promoted to a young audience for consumption in multiple servings.” Schumer also called the beverages’ frequent placement next to ordinary energy drinks a “highly disturbing” cause of confusion for both legal and illegal consumers.

In the end, Phusion agreed to stop production of caffeinated alcoholic beverages and agreed to alter its advertising and marketing tactics to reduce its products’ appeal to young people. : Why Was Four Loko Controversial?

Will one 4loko get you drunk?

One can of Four Loko contains as much alcohol as four to five 12-ounce cans of regular beer and is not safe to drink on a single occasion.