By all accounts, they look like the average energy drink: brightly colored, 24-ounce containers in sugary flavors like blue raspberry, watermelon and lemonade, packed with caffeine and other additives.
Average, except for the "12.0% " alcohol label stamped across the top of every Four Loko can.
When it comes to drinking this breed of energy-infused malt beverage, some students say the buzz they feel is far from that of the typical alcoholic drink.
"My friend said if you chug two of them, it's comparable to doing a line of coke," said student John Michael Signorelli. "If I chug one, all I need is that for the whole night -- and I'm not really capable of drinking anything else."
Signorelli (senior-agricultural business) said the drink "smells like a blue Icee but tastes terrible," so he usually chugs them, which leaves his adrenaline pumping and his heart racing.
It's that drinking strategy combined with the potency of alcohol and caffeine that's leading some law enforcement officials to caution against Four Loko and similar drinks.
"In the past, when there have been changes in substances people are using, there would all of a sudden have an immediate impact on acts," State College Police Department Lt. Chris Fishel said. "It's not unusual for someone to drink an energy drink or drink a beer, but when you combine them it has a different impact on your body and on your ability to function."
Fishel said police will try to be alert to students consuming these drinks in an effort to curb alcohol-related incidents that could occur as a result of their consumption.
Jenna Grula said the drinks definitely seem to be catching on in State College. Grula (senior-public relations) said she first heard about Four Loko in the spring and thought the drink would be recalled because of the can's design -- which she described as similar to an energy drink in color and style.
"It's definitely a health risk," Grula said. "You shouldn't be mixing alcohol with energy drinks."
Four Loko contains caffeine, guarana and taurine, according to its label, but the exact quantities aren't specified.
Company officials from Phusion Projects -- the makers of Four Loko -- would not disclose the quantities of the additives, but wrote in an e-mail that the ingredient mix is approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) and the state alcohol regulatory agencies in the 47 states where the drink is sold. TTB officials could not be reached for comment as of press time Thursday.
Jaisen Freeman, managing partner of Phusion Projects, wrote that a "Generally Recognized As Safe" (GRAS) study was submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this year, following a 2009 FDA investigation into 30 companies that manufacture caffeinated alcoholic beverages, including Phusion Projects.
The investigation is still under review, according to the FDA website, and states that there are no food additive regulations that permit the addition of caffeine, at any level, in alcoholic beverages.
According to the company's website, Freeman created Four Loko with friends Chris Hunter and Jeff Wright while they were undergraduates at Ohio State University.
But back at Penn State, health officials said it's important to be especially careful with products that are not yet regulated by the FDA.
"The danger is when you combine alcohol with a stimulant like caffeine," said Linda LaSalle, associate director of educational services for University Health Services (UHS). "The individual might not know how impaired they are."
Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant and caffeine is a stimulant, LaSalle said. As a result, the caffeine may shut off some of the signals to the brain that help an individual determine when they are intoxicated, she said.
But if you ask the brains behind Phusion Projects about the combination, they say their products are simply a new twist on an old formula.
"Having coffee after a meal with wine, consuming rum and cola, Irish coffee, or a Red Bull and vodka are all popular practices," Freeman wrote in an e-mail. "In addition, there are literally hundreds of other pre-mixed, caffeinated alcoholic beverages being sold and consumed in the U.S., many of which contain more alcohol and more caffeine than our products."
But officials said it's not just the mix that sets the drink apart.
Mary Lou Hogan, executive secretary for the Malt Beverages Distributors Association of Pennsylvania, said while she isn't familiar with the drink, Four Loko's size and alcohol content -- 12 percent alcohol by volume in 23.5 ounces -- is larger than the typical malt beverage. Similar drinks usually contain about 5.5 percent alcohol by volume in a 12- or 16-ounce container, Hogan said.
But in State College, store owners say the drink is definitely on students' radars.
Darin Verbeck, manager of Brewsky's Bottle Shop, 222 W. Beaver Ave., said Four Loko is usually the caffeine-infused drink of choice in his local stores. Compared to competitor Joose, which comes in a 24-ounce can and contains 12 percent alcohol by volume, Verbeck said he estimates that Four Loko outsells Joose five-to-one or even 10-to-one.
But despite the warnings, or even the possible threat of the drink being pulled from store shelves, Signorelli said the controversy surrounding the beverage seems to make it even more popular.
For a lot of students, he said, it's a matter of "try it while you can."
