Party Over? FOUR Loko Announces Permanent Removal of Caffeine From Products

Is the party over? A press release just made public from the Chicago-based Phusion Projects, creator of popular alcoholic energy drink Four Loko announced that the company is reformulating the recipe of their products to remove caffeine, guarana and taurine from all of their products, nationwide.

While the company has been maleable to a fair amount of the bad press they’ve received recently, their public statements makes sure to re-iterate their belief that the combination of alcohol and caffeine is safe. They make an interesting point in reminding the public that, “If it were unsafe, popular drinks like rum and colas or Irish coffees that have been consumed safely and responsibly for years would face the same scrutiny that our products have recently faced.”

In my humble opinion, this is an unfortunate and quick-triggered pseudo-ending to the original Four Loko formula. With ridiculous reports spewing left and right regarding young people unsafely consuming these drinks, the real questions that must be asked, who should we be pointing the finger at?

A Florida family is suing Phusion Projects over the death of their 20-year old son, Jason Kieran. Reportedly, the young man got intoxicated and wired after drinking a Four Loko and ended up playing with a friend’s gun and shooting himself. According to the family, they believe the drink made the boy erratic, which ultimately led to his unfortunate death. While our condolences definitely extend to the boy’s family, how wildly inappropriate is this lawsuit if put into proper perspective? First, the boy was not of legal drinking age, strike one. Second, the boy has friends who have guns laying around to be played with, strike two. Third, the parents knew none of these goings-on with their own child, strike three.

Let the conversation begin, what do you all think?