The Washington Post is reporting that "killer cocktails" or caffeinated alcoholic beverages may soon be off the market. Federal officials began a crackdown Wednesday on potent alcoholic drinks that contain caffeine, warning companies that market the increasingly popular but dangerous beverages that the products are illegal. The Food and Drug Administration sent letters to four companies that produce seven products, saying the agency had concluded that adding caffeine to alcohol was unsafe and unapproved. If the companies have not taken action within 15 days, the FDA could seek a court order barring them from continuing to sell the products, which have become a favorite among college students. "FDA does not find support for the claim that the addition of caffeine to these alcoholic beverages is 'generally recognized as safe,' which is the legal standard," said Joshua M. Sharfstein, the FDA's principal deputy commissioner in a written statement. "To the contrary, there is evidence that the combinations of caffeine and alcohol in these products pose a public health concern." Officials from the FDA, the Federal Trade Commission, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, and state attorneys general from Iowa and Washington state will further explain the crackdown at an afternoon briefing. In what looks like an attempt to get in front of the decision, Phusion Projects of Chicago, which makes Four Loko, announced Tuesday night that it was removing caffeine and other substances from all of its products. We're glad that the federal agencies are doing something about the caffeinated beverages. Now, if they could just do something about malt liquor.
Read more at the Washington Post.