Alcohol and Drugs History Society

Four Loco: blackout in a can?

Four Loco, invented in 2005 by Ohio State grads, is a controversial drink sometimes called "blackout in a can" or "liquid crack."  Sold in large cans, it has as much alcohol as six cans of light beer, as much caffeine as two cups of coffee, and as many calories as a McDonalds cheeseburger happy meal with a Coke. See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/27/four-loko-by-the-numbers_n_774760.html

Caffeine in the Congo

Amy Ernst reports about her guilt for drinking Red Bull in the Congo.  The high-caffeine drink costs $2 and is not always available.  Few Congolese earn as much as $40 a month to support large families.  For her blog, see http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/notes-from-a-young-american-in-congo-caffeine/?hp

Caffeine In Beverage Alcohol

The Chicago Tribune reports that "Caffeinated Alcoholic Drinks Stir Up Legal Concerns". Here's the link.

"Energy shots" stimulate sales of power drinks

Expensive, bad-tasting, two-ounce "energy shots" are the new fad in power drinks.  For more, see the New York Times article here.

Caffeinated cocktails

Caffeinated tonic water, club soda, ginger ale, and other cocktail mixers now offer Californians caffeinated cocktails. For more, see here.

Anne Fadiman on caffeine

Anne Fadiman offer an essay on her experiences with caffeine (first isolated in 1819) here.

Caffeine in decaf coffee

There is controversy about the high amount of caffeine in decaf coffee. For more, see here. And see comments here.

Should products disclose caffeine content?

The (U.S.) Food and Drug Administration currently requires beverage companies to list “caffeine” on product labels when it is added as an ingredient. But consumers don’t have to be told how much caffeine is present, even though pregnant women should limit caffeine consumption to about 300 milligrams a day, and children, who have seemingly boundless energy anyway, are more susceptible to the effects because of their low body weight.

For the last decade the Centers for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has unsuccessfully lobbied the FDA to require caffeine-content disclosures on food and beverages so consumers can make educated decisions.

“Caffeine is an addictive stimulant,” said CSPI’s director of legal affairs, Bruce Silverglide. “And it’s the only drug added to a wide variety of foods.”

Read more here.

Caffeinated multi-billionaires

The (London) Times, 30 April 2007, listed the 100 richest individuals or families, the "poorest" of whom had a worth of more than four billion pounds sterling. Nobody in alcohol or tobacco made the cut, but there were two in chocolate: #9, Forrest and John Mars (USA); tied for #71, Michele Ferrero (Italy)--and one in coffee--#33, Herz family (Germany).

'Our product doesn't have any cocaine in it,' says company spokesperson

An energy drink called Cocaine has been from pulled from stores across the U.S. amid concerns about its name, the company that produces it said Monday.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports.