FDA Demands Safety Data on Energy Drinks With Alcohol

The FDA has taken action against companies that make alcoholic energy drinks, giving the firms 30 days to provide evidence to support their claim that caffeine and booze are a safe combination. A group of concerned scientists have said there is no evidence to support the claim that the drinks are safe. "Being wide awake and drunk at the same time increases the risk of engaging in several forms of violent or other high-risk physical behaviors that can cause injury," they said in a statement.

The regulator acted after a request from 18 attorneys general, who asked the agency to investigate the safety of the drinks. The FDA approves caffeine only as an additive in soft drinks, not in alcoholic beverages. The drinks targeted include Constellation Brands’ Wide Eye and Diageo’s Smirnoff Raw Tea; Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors dropped energy drinks that contained alcohol last year, Reuters reports. (More energy drink stories.)