www.alkoholpolitik.ch

Alcohol consumption affects the health and well being of people in the United States in many negative ways: drunk driving, violent crime, spousal and child abuse, and diseases such as liver cirrhosis and cancer.

Though these problems often result from underage drinking, binge drinking, and alcoholism, even moderate alcohol consumption can contribute to health problems, especially various forms of cancer.

If consumers knew the nutritional value of the alcohol they are about to consume, they might make better choices and help reduce the risks of consumption.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has the authority and is about to finalize a new rule on national nutrition labeling standards for restaurant menus that should include alcohol. At the moment it does not.

Let’s tell President Obama that considering all the health and societal harms associated with alcohol consumption, it’s time to direct his administration to include alcohol in the final restaurant labeling rule to best inform consumers so they can make healthier choices.

Email this Alert to a Friend — TAKE ACTION
(Source: Alcohol Justice, 03/12/12)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed new regulations for nationwide menu labeling for restaurants. That’s a good thing. However, as currently proposed, alcoholic beverages are exempted. That is not a good thing.
Over-consumption of calories and poor nutrition is a serious public health problem. Alcoholic beverages are a significant source of calories in the American diet. Currently, drinkers have no way of knowing how many calories are in what they’re consuming.
With such information prominently displayed for all menu items, consumers can make better choices that can improve their health rather than harm it.
Please join Marin Institute and other concerned organizations and individuals in telling the FDA to require that restaurants inform customers of the caloric content of alcoholic beverages.
For more information and to read Marin Institute’s talking points: http://www.marininstitute.org/site/blog/38-blog-entries/629-tell-fda.html

The debate surrounding the effects of caffeinated alcoholic beverages on the human body still continues, although it has been three months since the Food and Drug Administration ordered the drinks—including the well-known Four Loko—pulled from the shelves.
In a lecture yesterday at the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston University Professor of Community Health Sciences Jonathan Howland questioned caffeine’s supposed ability to counteract the sedating effects of alcohol.
“Ultimately caffeine does not reduce the impairment effect of alcohol,” Howland said. … (Source: Google Alcohol News, 02/26/11) uwire.com, 02/25/11

Three federal agencies — including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) — recently acted in concert to halt the sale and distribution of caffeinated alcoholic drinks such as Four Loko and Joose. Agency officials made their decisions based on research into the effects of combining caffeine and alcohol, and several recent incidents linked to the beverages where individuals (mostly young people) have been hospitalized or killed.
In response, David L. Rosenbloom, who directs Join Together, published an editorial in The New York Times arguing that caffeine isn’t the only problem with sweetened high-alcohol drinks. Rosenbloom pointed out three looming concerns: … (Source: Join Together, 11/30/10)

On Nov. 17, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declared that the makers of drinks like Four Loko and Joose were not allowed to mix caffeine and alcohol. Many of the comments on various news sites said, more or less, that such a decision would „do nothing“ to stop binge drinking on college campuses.
They were right. While removing alcoholic energy drinks from the market may have been necessary, it doesn’t solve the larger problems.
The real issues, as Derrick Z. Jackson wrote in the Boston Globe Nov. 20, are underage and binge drinking. Far from taking either one seriously, he argued, we encourage them both. (Source: Join Together, 11/29/10)

Die US-amerikanische Kontrollbehörde FDA hat dieser Tage vier Hersteller von sogenannten Energy-Drink aufgefordert, entweder das Koffein aus den hochprozentigen Alkopops zu entfernen oder die Produkte vom Markt zu nehmen. Andernfalls drohten Sanktionen.
Mit 12 Volumenprozent enthält eine typische Getränkedose des jetzt verbotenen Four Loko so viel Alkohol wie eine Flasche Wein. Hinzu kommen etwa 150 mg Koffein, was der Menge mehrerer Becher Kaffee entspricht. Beides ist für sich genommen in USA legal, doch die Kombination der beiden Inhaltsstoffe kann nach Ansicht der FDA nicht als sicher betrachtet werden. (Quelle: aerzteblatt.de, 19.11.10)

…FDA Tells Drinks Makers
The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has told four drinks companies that adding caffeine to malt alcoholic drinks is an „unsafe food additive“. The FDA Warning Letters added that federal law allows for further action, including confiscation of malt alcoholic beverages with caffeine added. These drinks are a public health concern, the FDA wrote in a communiqué.
The FDA says it looked at studies and peer-reviewed documents about the consumption of alcohol mixed with caffeine, as well as talking to toxicologists, neuropharmacologists, emergency room doctors and epidemiologists. It also examined data provided by drinks makers. Laboratory analyses of alcoholic drinks with caffeine added were also carried out independently by the FDA. (Source: Medical News Today, 11/17/10)

This week, CNN, CBS, and NBC covered recent disturbing events involving partying teenagers getting sick after consuming alcoholic energy drinks: sweet, high-alcohol, caffeinated, beverages, now dubbed „black-out in a can.“
After throwing up and passing out, college students are winding up in hospital emergency rooms while the federal government delays action.
Meanwhile, the manufacturers refuse to take any responsibility and continue to aggressively market these dangerous products nationwide.
Last November, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration launched an investigation into the safety of adding caffeine to alcohol. After nearly a year, what are they waiting for?
Tell the head of the FDA, Commissioner Margaret Hamburg (a medical doctor), and her boss, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that it’s time to ban these products once and for all. (Source: Marin Institute, 11/08/10) Take Action!

The revelation this week that sugary, high-alcohol energy drinks helped send nine Washington state college freshmen to the hospital after an off-campus party has renewed public attention on the hazards of the beverages. Several states have enacted or are considering limits or bans on the drinks, and at least two universities have banned them from campus while the Food and Drug Administration reviews their safety. (Source: Google Alcohol News, 27.10.10) The Washington Post/quedit.com, 10/27/10
Tell the head of the FDA, Commissioner Margaret Hamburg (a medical doctor), and her boss, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that it’s time to ban these products once and for all.
Click the link below to log in and send your message:
http://action.marininstitute.org/link/target/mi/REE4448G.aspx

Some doctors are saying drinks that combine alcohol with caffeine should be banned because they’re dangerous, ABC News reported Oct. 20.
Marketed in large, colorful cans under names like Four Loko, Joose, and Torque, the drinks are popular among college students. The 23.5-ounce canned drinks can contain 12 percent alcohol and 156 milligrams of caffeine, and have encountered increasing criticism. Attorneys general in more than one state are concerned that they’re being marketed to minors, a New Jersey college banned them, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is deciding whether or not the drinks are legal. (Source: Join Together, 10/26/10)