The beverage industry – whose leading companies include The Coca-Cola Company, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, PepsiCo, Nestle Waters North America and Sunny Delight – is also committing to continue reducing the beverage calories in the marketplace through innovation, smaller portion sizes and further marketing of their low-calorie beverages.
This new initiative will display calories more prominently on:
* Product labels: Total calorie counts will be displayed on the front of labels for the entire container, up to and including 20-ounce products. A 12-ounce serving size will be used in displaying calories for multi-serve beverage packages (such as 2-liter bottles).
* Vending Machines: Total calorie counts for the entire container will be displayed on the beverage selection buttons of vending machines controlled by the companies.
* Fountain Machines: Calorie counts will be shown prominently on all fountain beverage machines.
The industry will coordinate with the FDA on its new calorie labeling initiative to ensure that the information on the front and back of a package is consistent. Also, industry supports the FDA evaluating serving sizes for the entire food and beverage industry as part of their current review of food labels.
The beverage industry is going to voluntarily explore other fact-based labeling on its packages, such as the feasibility of expanding the current information for percent of Daily Value, currently found in the Nutrition Facts Panel of all packaged foods and beverages, to include other nutrients and also put this information on the front of labels where relevant.
"Our companies are committed to fact-based labeling as well as seeking ways to make calories and other nutrition information more clear and accessible to consumers, particularly at the point of purchase," Neely said. "The more easy-to-use information we give consumers, the better they'll be able to choose the refreshing beverage that best meets their tastes and needs."
The American Beverage Association is the trade association representing the broad spectrum of companies that manufacture and distribute non-alcoholic beverages in the United States.
Caffeinated alcoholic beverages, or CABs, are alcoholic beverages that contain caffeine as an additive and are packaged in combined form.
Alcoholic beverages to which caffeine has been added as a separate ingredient have raised health concerns at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as well as in other federal, state, and local agencies.
FDA announced that it had sent warning letters to four companies that make malt versions of these beverages, advising them that the caffeine included as a separate ingredient is an “unsafe food additive."
These warning letters were not directed at alcoholic beverages that only contain caffeine as a natural constituent of one or more of their ingredients, such as a coffee flavoring.
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A Troubling Mix
According to data and expert opinion, caffeine can mask sensory cues that people may rely on to determine how intoxicated they are. This means that individuals drinking these beverages may consume more alcohol—and become more intoxicated—than they realize. At the same time, caffeine does not change blood alcohol content levels, and thus does not reduce the risk of harms associated with drinking alcohol.
Studies suggest that drinking caffeine and alcohol together may lead to hazardous and life-threatening behaviors. For example, serious concerns are raised about whether the combination of alcohol and caffeine is associated with an increased risk of alcohol-related consequences, including alcohol poisoning, sexual assault, and riding with a driver who is under the influence of alcohol.
Malt versions of premixed alcoholic beverages come in containers holding between 12 and 32 liquid ounces. Some may also contain stimulant ingredients in addition to caffeine. Their advertised alcohol-by-volume value is as high as 12 percent, compared to standard beer's usual value of 4 to 5 percent.
These alcoholic beverages are available in many states in convenience stores and other outlets. They often come in large, boldly colored cans comparable in size to "tall" cans of beer—or in containers resembling regular beer bottles.
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FDA Warns Four Firms
FDA issued its November 2010 warning letters to four companies that make caffeinated alcoholic beverages: Charge Beverages Corp., New Century Brewing Co. LLC, Phusion Projects LLC (which does business as the Drink Four Brewing Co.), and United Brands.
The caffeinated malt beverages referenced in these warning letters are
The manufacturers of these products have failed to show that the direct addition of caffeine to their malt beverages is “generally recognized as safe” by qualified experts. Rather, there is evidence that the combinations of caffeine and alcohol in these products pose a public health concern.
“Consumers should avoid these caffeinated alcoholic beverages, which do not meet the FDA’s standards for safety,” says Joshua M. Sharfstein, M.D., FDA’s principal deputy commissioner.
The agency has given the firms 15 days to respond to the warning letters and then may proceed to court to stop their sale. In addition, other alcoholic beverages containing added caffeine may be subject to agency action in the future if scientific data indicate that the use of caffeine in those products does not meet safety standards.
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Beverages and More is an alcoholic beverage retailer that operates 104 superstores, 48 in Northern California, and 46 in Southern California and 10 in Arizona. Store locations target the major metropolitan “foodie” markets of San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Diego.
The stores sell over three thousand types of wine, twelve hundred types of beer and fifteen hundred types of distilled beverages as well as an assortment of non-alcoholic beverages, gourmet foods, cigars and drinking accessories (wine goblets, shot glasses etc.) Stores are designed to be easily navigated even by customers who are relatively new to enjoying gourmet wines, beers and spirits, and customers are given frequent opportunities to sample both alcoholic and non-alcoholic wares. You must be over 21 to enter a Beverages and More location.
The company is privately held and in 2009 reported profits of well over $500 million.
An early CEO Bannus Hudson once described Beverages and More’s business model as a candy store for adults, and indeed with what may seem to many companies as every intoxicating beverage under the sun crowding its shelves, the description is not too far off.
In 1996 Beverages and More was the recipient of Wine Enthusiast Magazine’s award as Retailer of the Year, and in 2008, the company was singled out by the Tasting Panel magazine for a Lifetime Achievement award.
History of Beverages and More
The company was founded in Concord, California in 1994 by an investment group headed by Steve Boone who had previously developed the Liquor Barn, a very successful discount alcoholic beverage outlet that was purchased by supermarket giant Safeway in the 1970s. The first Beverages and More opened in Walnut Creek and followed many aspects of the Liquor Barn model including rapid expansion and a huge amount of floor space, generally in excess of 10,000 square feet. However, Beverages and More targeted a more upscale clientele than its predecessor by selling specialty foods and establishing an in-house rating system that scores the wines it sells on a scale between one and one hundred.
Beverages and More’s initial expansion proved to be unsuccessful. In 1998, after nearly going broke, the companies closed stores in Florida and Nevada, and decreased the square footage of their average retail outlet to 7,000 square feet. By 2000 the company had become the second largest alcohol retailer in the nation and was in the black again, earning more than $130 million that year. Since its inception, customers had nicknamed the company “BevMo!,” which became the domain name of the company’s popular website and online store that same year. The nickname is also frequently used to brand the company.
