Judges don’t like caffeine in alcohol...duh!
They should have known what was coming. In the end MillerCoors had to bow to public pressure and announce that they were putting on hold the introduction of Sparks Red, a new caffeinated alcoholic beverage about which 25 state attorneys general have expressed concern.
In a statement, MillerCoors - a joint venture of Molson Coors Brewing and SABMiller - said they were putting on hold the introduction of Sparks Red pending discussions with a group of state attorneys general.
MillerCoors noted that the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau previously approved the ingredients, formulation and labelling for the beverage, which was scheduled to be introduced on 1 October 2008.
In September, 25 state attorneys general, including New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, called on MillerCoors to abandon plans to introduce the drink, expressing concerns about the drink’s high alcohol content and its marketing to young people.
The plea to MillerCoors is the latest move in a crusade against the U.S.’ top brewers over the hybrid beverages, which seem to have become brewers’ best friends. Given that beer sales have grown very little in recent years, these alcoholic drinks spiked with caffeine have become nice little earners for the brewers. Nevertheless, they have remained a small category. Sparks represented only about 1 percent of Miller’s U.S. production in 2007, according to industry estimates. Still, Sparks is a high-profit-margin item, and it is the leader in the energy-brew category. Plus, Miller paid USD 215 million in 2006 to buy McKenzie River Corp., maker of Sparks.
The controversy over these energy brews has been going on for quite some time. In February, attorneys general from several states, including Illinois’ Lisa Madigan, subpoenaed Miller and Anheuser-Busch, the nation’s biggest beermaker, asking for information about energy-alcohol drinks.
Both companies have reportedly complied with the subpoenas, and, in June, Anheuser-Busch said it would remove caffeine and other stimulants from its Tilt and Bud Extra offerings.
Now, the pressure is being ratcheted up on MillerCoors, and not only by the attorneys general. In August, the Center for Science in the Public Interest sued the company, claiming stimulants used in the Sparks offerings are not approved for alcoholic beverages.
With 8 percent alcohol, Sparks Red would pack more of a punch than Sparks’ original version or Sparks Plus, which contain 6 percent and 7 percent alcohol, respectively. Most conventional beers have a 4 percent to 5 percent alcohol content.
Like most energy drinks, Sparks is also loaded with caffeine. The attorneys general claim that adding caffeine to alcoholic beverages reduces drinkers’ sense of intoxication. Research on the subject is limited.
The U.S. energy drink boom started during the late 1990s with the introduction of Red Bull. Today, it is one of the beverage growth categories, a USD 4.8 billion market according to a report by Mintel International, a market researcher.
