Poor Four Loko.
All it ever wanted was to get us sloshed and hyper with a single can. Now, not only has it been stripped from shelves and replaced with a decaf version that's totally lame, but the company that makes it has been smacked with a massive class-action lawsuit, as well. The suit demands, among other things, “a refund for every person who purchased Four Loko during the last four years.”
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The complaint, filed by Jacqueline Richardson,
accuses Chicago-based Phusion Projects of
misleading customers into gulping down “the caffeine equivalent of a cup
of coffee and about as much alcohol as in four to five beers” by making
its fruity flavors, vibrant packaging and shelf placement similar to
non-alcoholic energy drinks. The case will be heard at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
Dubbed “Blackout In a Can,” the caffeine-spiked alcoholic beverage was deemed unsafe by the FDA and has been linked to at least one death of a college student.
Florida-based Howard Rubinstein, one of the attorneys on the case, told our sister paper LA Weekly, “Why should the company keep the money when it caused people's lives to be ended?”
In a statement, Phusion Projects called the lawsuit “meritless”:
“We have always disclosed the contents of all of our
products, and we did not make any misrepresentations about our products.
As a responsible member of the alcoholic-beverage industry we have gone
above and beyond federal and state labeling requirements to make sure
consumers know what our product is so that it can be consumed
responsibly. We work alongside our distributors and the stores that sell
our products to ensure they are marketed, sold and consumed safely and
responsibly.”
Still, we're looking for our receipt for three bucks, just in case.
