'Four Loko' Agrees to Remove Caffeine from Former 'Deadly' Alcohol Product

After an official legal settlement, Phusion Projects has agreed to sell their famed "Four Loko" alcohol product without caffeine in it. Four Loko debuted back in 2005 and gained popularity amongst college students because of its mixture of caffeine and alcohol.

Previously known as "blackout in a can," Four Loko contained alcohol, caffeine, taurine, and guarana. After rising health concerns and hundreds of hospital trips, Four Loko removed the caffeine, taurine, and guarana in December of 2010 after the Food and Drug Administration intervened on the matter. This became legally official when Phusion Projects reached a settlement with 20 attorneys general yesterday.

The caffeinated booze in the old Four Loko was deemed unsafe by FDA health officials. The beverage was banned by several states, so Phusion Projects decided to remove the caffeine products in the drink to make it available as an alcoholic beverage. Now, they're legally forbidden from making or selling caffeinated alcoholic beverages.

Although Phusion Projects agreed to this, they're still holding strong to their statement that, "the combination of alcohol and caffeine can be consumed safely and responsibly by adults 21 and over," in this Washington Post article. The legal settlement requires Phusion to pay $400,000 to each of the 20 states in the suit as well as the city of San Francisco.

FDA researchers found that the old Four Lokos were unsafe because the caffeine masked how intoxicated the consumers really were. And since the caffeine's effects wear off quicker than alcohol's, those who consumed the product were much drunker than they realized. This resulted in "blackouts," which is how the drink got the nickname "blackout in a can."

Jim Sloan, the president of Phusion Projects, issued a statement shortly after the legal settlement to address the matters. "While our company did not violate any laws and we disagree with the allegations ... we consider this agreement a practical way to move forward and an opportunity to highlight our continued commitment to ensuring that our products are consumed safely and responsibly only by adults 21 and over," he said in this Los Angeles Times article.