State attorneys general investigate caffeinated alcohol drinks

Several state attorneys general are demanding documents from St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Cos. and Milwaukee’s Miller Brewing Co. for an investigation into sales and marketing of caffeinated alcohol drinks.

The top law enforcement officials in New York, Maine, Maryland, Arizona and Iowa have subpoenaed Anheuser-Busch, the country’s biggest brewer, for information about its Tilt and Bud Extra products, malt-based alcohol beverages that contain caffeine. Officials from all of those states — except Arizona — also contacted Miller Brewing about the company’s Sparks drinks. 

Representatives of the New York and Maine attorneys general did not return phone calls.

The investigations, first reported in The Wall Street Journal’s online edition, are the latest turn in a controversy over alcohol beverages that contain caffeine. Last year, Miller and Anheuser-Busch came under fire from the top legal officers in dozens of states.

At issue were drinks such as Anheuser-Busch’s Spykes and Miller’s Sparks, which critics said attracted underage drinkers and dangerously mix a stimulant and depressant. Anheuser-Busch eventually stopped making and selling Spykes, but the controversy didn’t die.

Anheuser-Busch contends that Tilt and Bud Extra have already been cleared for sale and withstood last year’s legal challenge by the consortium of attorneys general. Plus, the brewer argued, caffeinated alcohol drinks are not new, naming rum and cola and Irish Coffee as examples.

“It is important to realize that the AGs are investigating products whose formulation and labeling already have been approved by the federal authorities, as well as by those states that require state liquor authority approval,” said Francine Katz, vice president of communications and consumer affairs at A-B’s domestic beer subsidiary.

“If the Attorneys General truly believe that - despite the state and federal regulatory approvals - alcohol and caffeine should not be mixed, then they should use their powers to persuade these authorities to regulate or ban all such beverages, not just the lower-alcohol, pre-packaged ones,” Katz continued.

Similarly, Miller Brewing said the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau has approved all product formulations and labels for Miller’s Sparks, Sparks Light and Sparks Plus.

“We remain in close and frequent contact with the TTB to make certain that the labeling, marketing and product formulations of all our brands meet all applicable federal regulations,” Miller spokesman Julian Green said in a statement. “We responsibly market our products to legal drinking age consumers consistent with industry marketing codes and applicable laws and regulations.”