Attorneys General and Consumer Advocates Keeping Keggers Safer

Although mixing alcohol with the drug caffeine isn't a new idea (Cuba Libra, Irish Coffee, Hot Toddy…) a couple of new brews that have recently come onto the market have a consumer group taking the mixologists to court. Yesterday, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer group advocating for nutrition, food safety, alcohol policy, and sound science, sued MillerCoors LLC in District of Columbia Superior Court requesting that the company stop selling its caffeinated alcoholic beverage Sparks.  According to the complaint, the consumer advocates claim that the marketing of the "energy drink" is designed to appeal to younger and possibly underage drinkers.

This lawsuit doesn't come without precedence.  Last year, several attorneys general criticized Anheuser Busch over inadequate labeling of its caffeinated malt beverage Spykes. New York and several other states began an investigation into Anheuser-Busch's marketing practices, which eventually led the company to pull the product off the market this summer.