News
Anheuser-Busch to discontinue stimulant-laced alcoholic drinks
By Attorney General's office
Jun 26, 2008 - 3:38:48 PM

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and Department of Consumer
Protection (DCP) Commissioner Jerry Farrell, Jr. today announced that Anheuser- Busch Companies, Inc. has agreed to stop making alcoholic drinks spiked with caffeine and other stimulants.

The agreement is with 11 states, which will receive $200,000 from the company. Connecticut will get $10,000 of those funds.
Under the accord, Anheuser-Busch will discontinue its “Tilt” and “Bud Extra” drinks, alcoholic beverages laced with caffeine or Guarana, an herb purported to be a stimulant. The company also agreed to forego future alcoholic drinks containing caffeine, Guarana or other similar stimulants.

Connecticut and other states alleged the company made false or
misleading advertising claims that the products -- packaged to resemble conventional energy drinks -- counteract alcohol and energize drinkers, allowing them to party all night. The states also alleged that the company marketed the products to underage drinkers and failed to warn consumers about the health risks of combining alcohol and caffeine. Anheuser-Busch denies the allegations.

Blumenthal said, “These energy alcoholic drinks lead to wide-awake, energized drunks. They are a dangerous witches’ brew, combining a kick of caffeine with confusion of booze. Studies show that they lead to binge drinking, car crashes, sexual assaults and other risky behavior. They impair faculties and reasoning, but instill the illusion of alertness and energy. They energize the intoxicated.

“This agreement pulls all these caffeinated alcoholic products from shelves immediately and prohibits the company from combining alcoholic drinks with caffeine or similar stimulants. We will demand that other companies stop these ghastly concoctions, which make drinkers hammered and hopped up at the same time” Blumenthal added, “Our coalition of states will seek similar bans on alcoholic products from other manufacturers, exploring all options, including possible legal action. I urge other breweries and distillers to follow Anheuser- Busch’s lead by voluntarily withdrawing and foreswearing these unsafe beverages.”

Farrell, who as DCP commissioner also serves as Liquor Control Division chairman, said, “Preventing underage drinking, and thereby saving lives, is one of the top priorities of the Department of Consumer Protection and its Liquor Control Division. Combining alcohol and caffeine raises health concerns and glamorizes alcohol in such a way to appeal to young people; today’s agreement should sober people up to the fact that alcohol and stimulants like caffeine should not mix.”

Blumenthal and Farrell cited a recently published study by Dr. Mary Clair O’Brien of Wake Forest University that found college students who consume energy drinks with alcoholic beverages are more likely to binge drink and have twice as many episodes of weekly drunkenness. Combining the beverages also increased the risk of sexual assault and injury, the study showed.

The study examined joint consumption of separate alcoholic and energy drinks, not pre-mixed beverages.

Under the agreement, Anheuser-Busch may reformulate and reintroduce “Tilt” and “Bud Extra” as long as they contain no caffeine or similar stimulants.

Other states signing the agreement are: Arizona, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New York, Ohio, California, Idaho, Illinois and New Mexico.

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