From today’s Wall Street Journal:
The Food and Drug Administration is taking aim at caffeinated alcoholic drinks, saying it will pull them off the market unless manufacturers can prove the beverages are safe to drink.
On Friday, the FDA sent letters to nearly 30 companies, giving them 30 days to provide evidence that their drinks don’t pose health or safety risks. The FDA hasn’t approved the use of caffeine in alcoholic beverages, and companies might have to show that experts generally think mixing caffeine and alcohol is safe for consumers.
The government just hates all of these modern beverages loaded with all kinds of stimulants that it knows little about, but loves to demonize. The anti-Ephedra campaign is still going on. Look, I am the last person to like these horrible beverages with all of the sugar or stimulants in them. Most people are too sedentary to be drinking this stuff as much as they do. The marketing of these products is geared toward enticing people into the “easy energy” fix. The perfect customers for such gimmicks are lazy, high time preference Americans who are easily swayed by the “instant energy” advertising hooks. But these choices belong to the individual. As to the alcohol drinks that contain caffeine — why doesn’t the FDA have to prove that these drinks do pose a safety risk before they are yanked off the shelf and branded an unsafe product? Why then, isn’t the FDA concerned about establishments that serve coffee drinks? Perhaps in the near future, the FDA will be busting down my door to confiscate my Starbucks Barista ? Perhaps in the near future, the FDA will be busting down my door to confiscate my Starbucks Barista coffee maker and my Kahlua, Courvoisier, and Irish Cream liquors.
