State officials call for ban on Four Loko

With a grieving Long Island grandmother by his side, Sen. Charles Schumer Wednesday called on state officials to ban the sale of caffeinated alcoholic drinks that the family of 18-year-old Nicole Lynn Celestino contends caused her death in August.

Schumer (D-N.Y.) also called on the federal Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission to speed up their scrutiny of beverages like Four Loko and Joose, which he said carry as much caffeine as three cups of coffee and more alcohol than a bottle of beer.

"Four Loko, and drinks like it, are a toxic, dangerous mix of caffeine and alcohol, and they are spreading like a plague across the country," said Schumer in a prepared statement issued at the Manhattan news conference. "While we wait for the Food and Drug Administration to act, we need to take matters into our own hands here in New York and ban the sale."

In a statement released Wednesday, the State Liquor Authority said it shared Schumer's concerns, especially in the case of underage drinkers.

"We are evaluating the issue, mindful of our obligation to protect public health and safety as well as our commitment to keeping harmful products out of the hands of minors," the SLA said.

Celestino died after she drank Four Loko, a popular brand of the caffeinated beverage with an alcohol content of 12.5 percent, said her grandmother, Jacqueline Celestino of Smithtown. Schumer noted that Nicole had taken a diet pill, which often contains caffeine, earlier the same day.

Her granddaughter suffered a cardiac arrhythmia and went into cardiac arrest though her blood alcohol level was only .05, below the legal intoxication level of .08, Jacqueline Celestino said.

Schumer said that Michigan and Oklahoma have already banned Four Loko, while other states and cities were considering doing so. He said six college students in New Jersey and nine in Washington state were recently hospitalized for ingesting caffeinated alcoholic drinks. Washington State's Liquor Control Board on Wednesday approved an emergency ban on the beverages.

Phusion Projects LLC of Chicago, Ill., the company that markets Four Loko, issued a statement saying, "When consumed responsibly, our products are just as safe as any other alcoholic beverage," and that the FDA is evaluating findings of an "independent scientific panel" offered by the company that concluded adding caffeine to alcohol is safe.