State, federal efforts targeting Four Loko ramp up

The popular and controversial fruit-flavored concoctions that mix strong doses of caffeine and alcohol in colorful cans may soon be a lot scarcer on store shelves.

The state's largest beer distributors have agreed to stop ordering the drinks, including Four Loko, Joose and Spark, and to clear their inventory of the products by Dec. 10. Retailers will have more time to do the same, under the terms of a voluntary agreement reached late Saturday with the New York State Liquor Authority.

"We have an obligation to keep products that are potentially hazardous off the shelves, and there is simply not enough research to show that these products are safe," said Authority chairman Dennis Rosen in announcing the deal.

Phusion Projects, the company that makes Four Loko, also agreed to stop shipping products that contain stimulants like caffeine, guarana, taurine or ginseng to New York by Friday.

Smaller beverage distributors were not part of the agreement, and Sen. Charles Schumer, who has called on the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission to bar the drinks, called on the Liquor Authority to ban them outright. The drinks are already banned in Washington, Utah, Michigan and Oklahoma, and on some college campuses.

Schumer praised the agreement as "a giant step forward keeping our kids safe from these toxic and dangerous brews."

Jacqueline Celestino, of Smithtown, applauded the agreement. She blames Four Loko for the August death of her granddaughter Nicole, 17, of Florida. The teen drank a can of it after taking a diet pill earlier in the day, and suffered brain death after an apparent cardiac arrest, Celestino said.

"It's certainly a good start," she said of the agreement. "Everything goes in steps and some of them are baby steps, but this one is actually monumental. You can't do everything in one sweeping motion."

The barred drinks are often marketed in colorful cans almost indistinguishable from energy drinks, despite containing 12 percent alcohol and a high level of stimulants that mask the sedative effects of the alcohol.

They've been linked to several near overdoses, and, Schumer argues, appear to be marketed to underage drinkers who find them a cheap way to imbibe a high level of alcohol.

Celestino said her granddaughter, whose father and siblings live in Ronkonkoma, was not legally intoxicated, although the final toxicology report is not complete. Her heart, lungs, kidneys and liver were successfully harvested and transplanted.

"The only good thing that came out of this was that five other people got another chance at life, and that's the only consolation prize we can find in this," she said, adding, "and, that Four Loko will be banned and other lives will be saved."