On Wednesday, the attorneys general of 36 U.S. states and territories sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission urging it to strengthen requirements in the consent decree the Commission proposed with Phusion Products, the marketer of Four Loko, a fruit-flavored malt beverage that attracted national attention last year. The FTC announced the consent decree early last month, and is currently accepting public comments on the agreement.
In the letter, the AGs voice their concern about “single serving” marketing of “supersized,” malt beverages with a high alcohol content, especially those with “disarmingly sweet, fruit flavors and eye-catching brightly colored cans.” The AGs contend that products such as these encourage binge drinking, and ask the FTC to toughen the order, which would still allow Phusion to market products containing up to 2.5 servings of alcohol, or 1.5 ounces of ethanol, as “single serving” containers.
The AGs ask the FTC to apply the terms of the consent decree to any packaging that contains more than two servings of alcohol, instead of the proposed greater than 2.5 serving threshold. They also ask that the FTC define the term “resealable” and create more stringent restrictions on depictions, in advertising, of consumption of the product directly from the container.
Go here to view the letter to the FTC from the attorneys general.
