Caffeinated Alcoholic Drinks Worry FDA

It's become a popular drink of choice. An energy drink loaded with caffeine combined with alcohol.

"Mixing a downer and upper, probably not the best thing to do," says energy drink user Chianti Seitz.

"You're combining a depressant, which is alcohol, with a stimulant. It affects your health negatively. That's not a good thing I don't think," says Mellisa Moller, who also uses energy drinks.

The FDA is concerned about the combination. The government has alerted 30 companies that they are investigating whether caffeine can lawfully be added to those alcoholic beverages.

Dr. Daniel Eveett has done studies on the adverse affects of energy drinks and what happens when you mix alcohol.

"There is some evidence that caffeine can actually mask the effects of alcohol. It doesn't mask the actual intoxication, so you may feel like you're less drunk than you are," Dr. Eveett says.

The FDA has not approved the use of caffeine in alcoholic beverages. They say within 30 days, the companies making these questionable combinations must produce evidence of their rationale with supporting data and information that the two can be safely mixed. If they determine the companies did not prove they can, they will take appropriate action to remove the products from the marketplace.

"I just think it's good to investigate it anything that's going to keep you up as long as that, and you mix it with alcohol has to have some danger to it," Chianti says.

In the past year, Anheuser-Busch and Miller agreed to discontinue their popular caffeinated alcoholic beverages Tilt, Bud Extra, and Sparks. They have agreed not to produce any caffeinated alcoholic beverages in the future.