Four Loko, the alcoholic beverage that drew controversy on college campuses last fall, is taking on a new look next spring. The drink will stay the same, but a few changes will be made to its design.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the company that created Four Loko, Phusion Projects LLC, reached an agreement regarding the packaging of the drink, according to an Oct. 3 Phusion Projects press release. The new can will display information that compares the amount of alcohol in one can of Four Loko to the amount in a 12-ounce beer with 5 percent alcohol by volume.

In addition, the can will be resealable, a first for any alcoholic beverage. The new cans are expected to arrive in stores sometime next spring.

The amount of alcohol in one can of Four Loko is comparable to that of five beers, said Dessa Bergen-Cico, assistant professor of public health in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics.

‘That is like drinking an entire bottle of wine in one sitting,’ she said.

Bergen-Cico said she thinks the new labels will help people better understand how much alcohol they are actually consuming.

‘The research I’ve done shows college students don’t realize how much they are drinking,’ Bergen-Cico said. ‘They think one can equals one drink.’

Despite disagreeing with the FTC’s allegations that Four Loko cans are poorly labeled, Phusion Projects ‘shares the FTC’s interest in making sure consumers get all the information and tools they need to make smart, informed decisions,’ Jaisen Freeman, a co-founder of Phusion Projects, said in the release.

Four Loko, originally a caffeinated alcoholic beverage, was in the news in 2010 because a large number of consumers were sent to emergency rooms with alcohol poisoning. The combination of caffeine and high alcohol content made the drink dangerous, Bergen-Cico said.

The company decided to remove guarana, taurine and caffeine from its ingredients in late 2010. The combination of caffeine and the high alcohol content caused many people to consume high quantities of the beverage without realizing its effect, Bergen-Cico said. The caffeine hides the effects of the alcohol at the time of consumption, she said.

Jack Turner, a freshman computer art major, said he knows how much alcohol is in one can.

‘That’s why I drink them,’ Turner said.

Erinne Bryan-Dickerson, a senior communications and rhetorical studies major, said that she has never had Four Loko, but she has had a similar product called Joose.

‘I’ve heard bad things about Four Loko,’ Bryan-Dickerson said. ‘Joose is similar but isn’t as bad.’

Bryan-Dickerson recalled her own experiences with friends who had terrible headaches the morning following a night of drinking Four Loko. Turner said he once shotgunned a can. Tales of nights after drinking Four Loko have spawned a new website, fourlokostories.com, where people can go to read stories or post their own.

Both Bryan-Dickerson and Turner said they did not think the label change would make any difference in sales of the malted beverage.

‘I’ve had friends who still drank it,’ Bryan-Dickerson said, ‘even when they knew it was dangerous.’

kmrich01@syr.edu 

Published on October 12, 2011 at 12:00 pm