Bureau
spokesman Tom Hogue told the Associated Press on Wednesday that all issues had been
resolved, giving a small Arizona-based company the green light to roll out four
ready-made beverages: cosmopolitans, margaritas, a vodka and a rum. The company
said a lemon drop drink should be “approved shortly.”
The company,
Lipsmark, will sell the booze in foil pouches that double as the glass.
Consumers need only to pour in 5 ounces of water, zip up the bag and shake
until the powder dissolves. But the company’s creation has kicked up a
controversy in several states where some lawmakers argue the product’s
inevitable dangers aren’t worth the risk. Although the product has been
approved at the federal level, states still have a say about sales within their
borders. Several, including California, Florida and New York, have already
moved to ban it.
Last
year, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) wrote a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration urging it to ban the substance before it became “the Kool-Aid of
teen binge drinking,” the Wall Street Journalreported.
He later sponsored legislation to keep it off the market. It was sent to
committee late last year, according to the newspaper.
Mothers
Against Drunk Driving released a statement last year, saying the advocacy
organization sided with Schumer. “This product is the latest in a long list of
specialty alcohol fads,” MADD said. “We’ve seen vaporized alcohol,
whipped cream alcohol, caffeinated alcohol — and the list goes on. While the
form of alcohol might change, the issues remain the same.
“As with anything
‘new,’ this product may be attractive to youth. … In the case of Palcohol, we
share Senator Schumer’s view that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration should
carefully review this product as it would seem to have the potential to
increase underage drinking.”
The
FDA approved powdered alcohol over the summer.
When
the powder is mixed with water, it is equal to a standard-sized cocktail —
about six ounces. Although the company hasn’t offer up its recipe, it said the
powders contain alcohol, natural flavoring and Sucralose, which is a sweetener.
All varieties are gluten-free.
Still,
many have expressed concerns about its potential dangers. Some argue the powder
will be easier to sneak into public events and spike people’s drinks. Others
worry that minors will get their hands on the product and abuse it by snorting
it to get high.
“The
other potential is that given the flavors it comes in, there’s the potential
for it to be very appealing to small children,” Kennon Heard, a medical
toxicologist at the University of Colorado, told CBS News last
year.
“We
had this episode a few years ago with fortified sweet alcohol drinks,” he
added, referring to Four Loko, a novelty drink that combined alcohol and
caffeine. “Younger people who did not know the products were drinking them and
getting intoxicated much faster.”
Amid
the backlash last year, Lipsmark’s founder Mark Phillips took to YouTube to “set the record
straight” regarding such accusations. Since then, the company has
also posted a
rebuttal on its Web
site.
“We believe that
powdered alcohol is actually safer than liquid alcohol,” the statement read.
The company claimed its product is “five times bigger” than a miniature alcohol
bottle, making it much more difficult to conceal. The company also argued the
product doesn’t dissolve quickly enough to spike someone’s drink. Regarding the
claim that kids will snort the substance, the company said that “it’s painful
to snort” and also “impractical.”
“Why
would anyone do that when they can do a shot of liquid vodka in two seconds?”
the company said in the statement.
In any case, Hogue
told the AP, a potential for abuse “isn’t grounds for us to deny a label.”
Phillips,
an avid hiker and backpacker, said he created Palcohol because he enjoys
throwing one back “when I get to my destination.” He said he doesn’t enjoy toting
bottles of booze, however. Powdered alcohol seemed like the perfect compromise.
As with liquid
alcohol, the same rules apply: Consumers must be at least 21 to buy it.
Palcohol will be sold at liquor stores and other stores that sell alcohol, but
the price tag hasn’t been set yet, Phillips said. “We aren’t commenting on
production or distribution at this time,” he told the AP in an e-mail.
Phillips told CBS Denver his next task is to try to “stop the states
from banning it based on misinformation and ignorant speculation.”
“While
several states had a knee-jerk reaction and banned it early on, we see the tide
is shifting and legislators are becoming more informed,” he said.
SOURCE: The
Washinton Post
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