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Phusion Projects
Four Loko will be forced to retool their product packaging to make it clear that they contain the equivalent of four to five beers, not one to two as the labels previously claimed.
Often referred to as "blackout in a can," Four Loko is about to get a little more sane.
The FTC today announced that the makers of the up to 23.5-ounce cans of carbonated malt liquor beverage, swilled on college campus and in YouTube binge-drinking "challenge" videos, will be forced to retool their product packaging to make it clear that they contain the equivalent of four to five beers. The ruling would settle charges leveled by the FTC against the maker, Phusion Projects, "for falsely claiming that a 23.5-ounce can of Four Loko contains the alcohol equivalent of one or two regular 12-ounce beers, and that a consumer could drink one entire can safely on a single occasion," the agency said in a press release.
Phusion Projects will be forced to include an "alcohol facts panel" stating the alcohol by volume and number of servings. Phusion also will be required to redesign their cans containing more than 2.5 servings of alcohol so they can be resealed. That way consumers don't feel like they need to drink the whole thing in one sitting.
"Our labeling and advertising materials have always clearly conveyed exactly what is in the can in bold, capital letters," said Phusion Projects co-founder Jaisen Freeman, "i.e., – 23.5 OUNCES and 12 PERCENT ALCOHOL BY VOLUME (ABV)."
“As a responsible alcohol beverage company, resolving the issues raised by the FTC through this agreement demonstrates Phusion’s continued commitment to being an industry leader and solid corporate citizen," Freeman said, "not just in sales, but also in transparency, cooperation and responsibility."
The Four Loko drink first grabbed the country's attention in late 2010 when nine Central Washington University students were hospitalized after consuming the drink at an off-campus party. Some of the students had mixed the fruity beverage with other drinks, including vodka. Afterward, several states rushed to ban the drink.
The government quickly took notice. After pressure from the FDA, Phusion removed the caffeine and energy drink ingredients that critics said could mask the beverage's alcoholic effects, bypassing the body's usual defense mechanisms against excessive alcohol consumption -- such as sluggish movements, falling down and passing out.
The FTC's decision came after an intense write-in campaign from citizens, the agency said. The FTC received over 250 public comments in response to its initial proposal and modified its ruling in response. Four Loko cans with more than two servings of alcohol will be forced to carry disclosures, while the initial proposal only called for the notice on cans with more than 2.5 servings. Instead of a notice comparing the amount of alcohol in Four Loko to their equivalent number of beers, the cans will carry "alcohol facts" panel instead. Public commenters feared that the equivalency would actually serve as an advertising come-on.
A number of the comments also asked the FTC to ban the drink entirely, but the FTC said it doesn't have that jurisdiction, nor could it force Phusion to limit the can size or alcohol content.
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Banning 4Loco is about as intellegent as another assault weapon ban- 1. Neither is the root cause of bad things happening around the country (4Loco doesn't cause all of the party rapes, deaths, etc. and "assault styled" weapons don't cause all of gun violence and deaths- actually less than 7% nationally), 2. The banning of either won't change the environment or stop people from doing doing bad/illegal things (No 4Loco=Mixed drinks and rufies. No legal guns= Knives, hammers, cars, poisons, etc. and illegal guns).
Banning never solved much of anything.
yo wilson @!$%#stick - go away and take your fuc king SPAM with you
4Loco is stupid.
Granted, a good deal of my resentment against comes from my University's newspaper when my state was considering a ban... Front page, full color "POTENTIAL BAN ON FOUR LOCO", small, black-and-white, almost entirely hidden several pages in on the same issue "Student receives top academic honor in US".
Either way, it's stupid. It's unnecessary, and it's dangerous. There are other ways to get alcohol that AREN'T marketed toward underage drinkers.
I bought a bunch of Four Loko a couple years ago, still have them. I tried one to see what it was like. Tastes kind of like I imagine old radiator fluid tastes, and it will mess you up pretty bad! Now, you can get messed up on other drinks, but there simply aren't that many drinks out there that can mess you up as much as this stuff with a single container. I drink all kinds of booze - beer, wine, liquor. I can put down a bottle of tequila over the course of a good party. But I won't ever drink Four Loko again.
you want another VILE drink? Try TILT - alcoholic fruit pop. I DRANK it BECAUSE I had PAID for it- BUT I WILL NEVER BUY THAT WEASEL PISS AGAIN.
I almost vomited after my 1st time trying Four Loko. I was nursing a sick stomach for about four hours.
Several weeks later, I opened a 2nd can. Just the smell of the stuff almost made me vomit. I believed I am cured of my Four Loko trial period. Never again.
Why does FTC have to ruin the fun by trying to save idiots from themselves? Don't they know that watching 4L Chug & Spew videos is my only source of entertainment at work?
I agree with U--Bro. It does taste a little like radiator fluid. They need to add about 12 ounces of prune juice to knock the "crap" out of it, and make it easier to go down. Guaranteed no hangover!
Do you drink from your radiator often?
No thanks. I'll stick with Red Bull and Jaeger if I need to get my caffeine and alcohol fix at the same time.
Idiots who binge drink and add alcohol to alcoholic beverages deserve the bad reults they get. It's called Darwinian selection- and they are the losers in the draw. I have zero sympathy for them.
Do what.
How do these folks KNOW what "radiator-fluid" tastes like ? I presume that they are speaking of "Antifreeze". THAT stuff IS POISONOUS !
The "Gub-Mint" should QUIT "dictating" to people.....and perhaps DO IT'S JOB...which IS "protecting OUR FREEDOMS".
GEEZ, folks....Didn't anyone in Politics study "American History and Civics" ? Perhaps, instead...they read "The Communist Manifesto" ?
Have you ever smelled something so bad that it gets stuck in your throat and you can kinda taste it? Yeah, that.
4 loco had already removed the misleading wording a long time ago(at least here in Va.) Why is this even news? It even says in the picture caption "as the labels previously claimed". Not currently claims.
Because media organizations like NBC are so stuck up Washington's ass, they refuse to print stories about Obama's drone strikes killing innocent civilians or illegal wiretaps.
That's why I spend most of my time browsing sites like Democracy Now for actual investigative journalism. MS/NBC is a god damn joke.
Seriously.. you mean people drink malt liquor other than because of it's great taste?
The government should give lie detector tests to the idiots that drank to excess and defamed the name of their supplier. Oops, I mean manufacturer.
Last time I drank this, I was younger and it had caffine plus alcochol plus im a violet person.....so i ended up in the back of a police car lol...........i wasn't arrested though
Hey, if a person wants to binge drink themselves to death, that's their prerogative. Better yet, I think we should remove some "common sense" warning labels, and let Darwinism take over, at least just a little bit.
first of all people are drinking 4 loco and other heavy drinks with it clarifying the drink is enough as people will know the contents
Yes, let's control EVERYTHING. Every big mac should have a "hamburger" rating to let people know exactly how many they are really eating. Big Gulps (do those even exist anymore?) should say how many cans of pop you are really drinking. People who drink 4 Loco know what is in it and what it does to them. That is exactly WHY they drink it. Next they will be telling us that we can't go to sites like Need4More.com because it might have something objectionable, like guns for sale it. Let's let the government control EVERYTHING and see how happy we all are. Come on people, take responsibility for yourselves and your children.
Now just remember, if you don;t support banning booze, you can't turn around and support cannabis prohibition without being a blatantly dishonest hypocrite.
28% of poll respondents are raving idiots who didn't learn the lessons of prohibition either from the previous gross failure of alcohol prohibition, or from the present gross failure that is drug prohibition.
If the republicans can block or undo this ruling they will because they believe that business owners should be free to do whatever they want, even if that means harming others.
The can is too large. Put it in a resealable bottle or reduce the can size.
I pour the stuff into a sippy cup so's I cain't chugg it.
over 250 responses so that really means 251 responses and the FTC is cracking down!? I'm not certain but aren't there some bigger issues the FTC could be tackling? that many responses is really not that many.
I drank four four lokos in one night. Talk about a hang over the next day.
I had a great time when I had 2 cans of 4L. it tastes horrible but then again so does MT. Everest malt liquor. suck it up people and learn to drink.