Gee, that didn’t take long.
The manufacturer of popular caffeinated alcohol drink Four Loko said Tuesday it will remove the caffeine from its products, pulling the blend off the market just as the Food and Drug Administration is poised to ban it.
Phusion Projects said in a statement posted on its website that the company will remove caffeine and two other ingredients from its products going forward.
The announcement came as the FDA is expected to find as early as Wednesday that caffeine is an unsafe food additive to alcoholic drinks. That finding essentially would ban Four Loko and other drinks like it.
The FDA ruling “should be the nail in the coffin of these dangerous and toxic drinks,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, who has pushed the Obama administration to ban the beverages, said Tuesday.
Four Loko hit the market only this past June. Almost instantly, it became popular on college campuses around the country. Now it seems a nationwide FDA ban on all pre-packaged, caffeinated alcoholic beverages is impending. So much for “blackout in a can.” All you PBC readers who have been itching to try the stuff better get it now, while there’s still time.
It’s a sad day for lovers of the caffeinated buzz. R.I.P. Loko. We hardly knew ye.