Washington DC– The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that the manufacturers of seven caffeinated alcoholic beverages labeled a "public health concern" have stopped producing or shipping the products.
The move follows warning letters sent by the FDA last week to the makers of the drinks, stating that the agency had not approved the addition of caffeine to alcoholic drinks, and that the agency did not consider it a safe food additive.
According to a report on CNN.com the FDA said discussions with the companies resulted in the following actions:
Phusion Projects, the maker of Four Loko, has stopped producing caffeinated alcoholic beverages, is no longer shipping such products and expects to have all of its caffeinated alcoholic beverages off retail store shelves by December 13.
United Brands, the maker of Joose, is no longer shipping the beverage and expects to have the product off retail store shelves by December 13. United Brands also said that it no longer markets Max, another caffeinated alcoholic beverage listed in the warning letter.
Charge Beverages Corp, the maker of Core High Gravity HG, Core High Gravity HG Orange, and Lemon Lime Core Spiked, stopped producing its caffeinated alcoholic beverages in September and has not shipped any caffeinated alcoholic beverages since early November.
New Century Brewing has ceased manufacturing its caffeinated alcoholic beverage, Moonshot.
The warning letters, which resulted from a year long review by the FDA, stated that the companies had 15 days to either reformulate their products or face possible seizure under federal law.