Experts Link Vodka Red Bull, ‘Jägerbombs’ to Increased Violence Among Young Drinkers — Could a Ban Work?
Following the failures of Four Loko, experts are beginning to raise concerns about cocktails like Vodka Red Bull. (Photo: Sanket Sawale)
Researchers have linked alcohol-energy drink cocktails like Vodka Red Bull and Jägerbombs to statistical increases in both physical and sexual violence. Now, they’re calling for a public awareness campaign.
Professors at Palo Alto University examined 17 studies between 2002 and 2023 that focused on men and women aged 25 or younger. Increases in physical violence were a common thread across all findings.
US, Slovakian and Italian studies found that people who drank alcohol-energy drink cocktails were six times more likely to be involved in physical altercations than those who abstained. Australian studies found that 9% of alcohol-energy drink cocktails had been implicated in a physical fight over the past year, compared to 3.5% for non-caffeinated booze.
Numerous findings highlighted the risk of sexual violence, including a 2008 US study that found alcohol-energy drink users were twice as likely to “take advantage of another sexually” compared to those who only drank alcohol.
Researchers hesitated to place the blame entirely on the cocktails themselves. Rather, findings suggested that consumers of alcohol-energy drinks tended to be more likely to commit violent acts.
Study co-author Professor Amia Hass told the Daily Mail, “Establishments who choose to serve these mixes should be aware that violence may be more likely to happen.”
She added, “Imposing a ban after 11 could help if it reduced the number of consumers getting intoxicated on alcohol energy drink beverages.”
Regulating energy drink cocktails would be nearly impossible on a state or federal level; instead, the decision would fall entirely into the discretion of bar owners. Still, federal advisories wouldn’t be unprecedented.
After a string of hospitalizations, four states successfully banned the infamously caffeinated Four Loko — frequently dubbed “blackout in a can” — in the mid-2000s. The FDA declared it a public health concern, the FTC ordered labeling changes and numerous states linked it to wrongful death lawsuits.
Wholesalers from several East Coast states started sending cases of high-alcohol, caffeinated malt beverages to MXI Environmental Services in Virginia after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced a crackdown on the sale of such beverages in November 2010. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
Amidst the controversy, Four Loko permanently removed caffeine from its recipe in 2010. In a statement, the brand said that the change was forced “after trying unsuccessfully to navigate a difficult and politically-charged regulatory environment at both the state and federal levels.” Since then, similar alcoholic upstarts like Monster Energy “Beast Unleashed” and Hard Mtn Dew have voluntarily opted not to include caffeine.
Four Loko’s failure left a lasting impression on the outlook of both consumers and legislators. Across society, the dangerous potential for these kinds of beverages is widely acknowledged and rarely disputed even among young drinkers.
But without a concrete brand to rally behind, cocktails like Vodka Red Bull, Jägerbombs and more exist in a tricky limbo. Consumers can easily make them at home and wonder: what’s the limit?
Were a change to be made, it would need to come in the form of a community movement.
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