Alcoholic Energy Drinks -- a Threat to Kids?

April 1, 2007— -- With edgy names, vivid packaging and occasionally stratospheric levels of caffeine, energy drinks are the beverage of choice for many teens who want to get more out of their drinks than a simple thirst quencher.

But a new offering is raising the eyebrows of some parents and researchers.

At first glance, the beverage -- called Spykes -- offers the same fruity flavors, caffeine boost and herbal elixir qualities of many energy drinks currently on the market.

The difference is that Spykes, as the label indicates, is an alcoholic beverage.

And critics say the compact packaging, low price and flashy online advertising are designed to make it appealing to underage consumers.

"I think it's one more outrageous example of the predatory marketing practices of the alcohol industry," says Susan Foster, vice president and director of policy research at Columbia University's National Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse.

"This is a huge public health problem, and it is very hard to regulate."

Spykes, which is made by Anheuser-Busch, has roughly the same alcohol content as wine and comes in such flavors as Spicy Mango and Hot Melons.

But it is the energy-drink appeal and the marketing that is nearly exclusively present on the Internet that has some researchers worried.

"This is an issue of corporate responsibility," says James Mosher, an attorney with the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation who researches the effects of alcohol marketing campaigns on young audiences.

"Energy drinks are so popular with teens. Clearly they've got to know that the market they are tying in with is an underage market."

Mosher adds that more such drinks will likely enter the market soon, as other major breweries add their own products to the mix.

"We've got a whole flurry of new products hitting the market like Spykes," he says. "But what's disturbing is that now the big brewers are moving in. Once they put their muscle behind it, then you know if will be big."