The Food and Drug Administration has told drink manufacturers it’s okay to put caffeine in soft drinks but it never gave the approval for caffeine additives in alcoholic beverages.
So on Friday the FDA put 30 beverage manufacturers on notice that it “intends to look into the safety and legality of their products.”
The manufacturers have 30 days to provide the FDA with documentation that caffeine is a safe additive for alcoholic beverages or the FDA will move to prohibit the sale of the drinks. Anheuser-Busch and Miller have already agreed to stop selling their caffeinated alcoholic beverages — Tilt, Bud Extra and Sparks. The companies also agreed to stop producing caffeinated alcoholic beverages.
Caffeinated alcoholic beverages such as Slingshot Party Gel, Smirnoff Raw Tea Malt Beverage and Hard Wired are popular with young and college-age drinkers.
