%0 Journal Article
%T The Federal Trade Commission's mandated Four Loko labeling fails to facilitate accurate estimation of alcohol content by college students
%J American journal of drug and alcohol abuse encompassing all addictive disorders
%D 2019
%A Rossheim, Matthew E.
%A Yurasek, Ali M.
%A Greene, Kaylin M.
%A Gonzalez-Pons, Kwynn M.
%A Barry, Adam E.
%A Thombs, Dennis L.
%A Trangenstein, Pamela J.
%A Nelson, Candace
%A Cavazos, Tammy
%A Treffers, Ryan D.
%A Jernigan, David H.
%V ePub
%N ePub
%P 1-8
%X <b>                         <i>Background</i>                     </b>: Four Loko, the leading supersized alcopop brand, is a pre-mixed alcoholic beverage containing up to 5.5 standard alcoholic drinks in a can. In 2013, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) mandated the addition to Four Loko cans of a label indicating its alcohol content in standard drinks, presented as "alcohol per serving" and "servings per container." <b>                         <i>Objective</i>                     </b>: The current study investigated whether college students accurately estimate the alcohol content in cans of Four Loko bearing the FTC mandated labels. <b>                         <i>Method</i>                     </b>: Undergraduate student drinkers (<i>n</i> = 833; 51.6% women) in three states (Florida, Montana, and Virginia) were provided an empty Watermelon Four Loko can and asked to determine the number of standard drinks it contained, using 12-ounce regular beer (Budweiser) equivalents. In Florida and Virginia, Watermelon Four Loko contains 4.70 standard alcoholic drinks; in Montana, it contains 3.13. <b>                         <i>Results</i>                     </b>: More than 60% of Florida students and more than 70% of Virginia students underestimated Four Loko's alcohol content by one or more standard drinks, compared to 45% of Montana students. Multivariable logistic regression analysis found the following variables were associated with greater odds of underestimating Four Loko's alcohol content by one or more standard alcoholic drinks: being female (AOR = 2.2), having never seen nor heard of Four Loko (AOR = 1.9), and residing in Florida (AOR = 1.7) or Virginia (AOR = 2.8) versus Montana. <b>                         <i>Conclusions</i>                     </b>: Students were far less likely to underestimate alcohol content for 8% alcohol-by-volume (abv) cans compared to those with higher alcohol concentrations. Thus, policies restricting supersized alcopops' abv may help consumers better estimate their alcohol content.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
%G en
%I Informa - Taylor and Francis Group
%@ 0095-2990
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00952990.2019.1671438