Matt Weir / The Collegian
To combat dangerous drinking among students, several universities across the nation have banned the Four Loko alcoholic energy beverage.
The mixture of caffeine, taurine, gaurana and alcohol in Four Loko has some authorities and health experts concerned.
According to Harvard’s University Health Services, one 23.5-ounce can contains the equivalent of six standard servings of alcohol and five cups of coffee.
The ban comes after numerous reports of students suffering from alcohol poisoning after consumption of Four Loko. According to USA Today, 23 students from the University of Washington were hospitalized after drinking the beverage.
The incidents resulted in a ban of the beverage at each university and, according to the Chicago Tribune, the entire state of Michigan will begin to ban all caffeinated alcoholic beverages.
Students at Fresno State have mixed feelings about the drink.
Pre-physical therapy student, Christopher Johnston, said the drinks are not the problem and that consumers are to blame.
“People that drink them need to be responsible just like they were drinking any other alcoholic beverage,” Johnston said. “I drink Four Loko, but when I do I am responsible and make sure I stay within my limits.”
Gregory Thatcher, a professor of public health at Fresno State, said the mixture of caffeine and alcohol is a problem and students may not always know their limits when consuming them.
“Your body doesn’t know if it’s coming or going,” Thatcher said. “[The drink] masks the effects and you can actually be a lot more drunk than you realize because the caffeine will make you alert and you don’t feel the full effects of the alcohol.”
Thatcher said one of the drink’s problems is the mixture of caffeine, taurine and guarana.
“Taurine and guarana are not fully understood,” Thatcher said. “The FDA doesn’t regulate them and that is a problem. There is no guarantee of how much is in an energy drink.”
According to their website, the Food and Drug Administration will begin to look into the legality and safety of companies selling caffeinated alcoholic beverages.
Under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, substances intentionally added to food or drink is considered unsafe and unlawful unless they have either been approved by the FDA or been recognized as a safe substance.
Because caffeine is recognized as a safe substance in other beverages such as tea and soft drinks, some manufacturers have begun adding it to alcoholic beverages.
Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, principal deputy commissioner of food and drugs, said the FDA plans to research the products as soon as possible.
“The increasing popularity of consumption of caffeinated alcoholic beverages by college students and reports of potential health and safety issues necessitates that we look seriously at the scientific evidence as soon as possible,” Sharfstein said.
Thatcher said that because the drinks are cheap, their popularity increases among certain groups.
“There are students that are responsible when they drink and then there is that sub group that drinks to get drunk,” Thatcher said. “These drinks were made for that group; for the sole purpose of getting drunk.”
Donald Ostrander, a junior at Fresno State, said that some students purposely drink Four Loko to get drunk.
“I have several friends who will drink two or three of them in a short span just because they want to get drunk,” Ostrander said. “I drink them every once in a while, but I don’t do it to get drunk. I may have one with some friends on a weekend when I don’t have work or any homework.”
In its research of caffeinated alcoholic beverages, the FDA convinced Anheuser-Busch and Miller to remove their caffeinated alcoholic beverages from their product line.
Tilt, Bud Extra and Sparks were discontinued and the companies agreed to not produce any caffeinated alcoholic beverages in the future.