Caffeinated alcoholic beverages in Canada : Consommation de boissons alcoolisées caféinées au Canada : prévalence, risques et recommandations en matière de politiques

In the next two sections we review the current policy context in Canada regarding the sale and use of CABs, which, along with the evidence on effective interventions to address risky drinking set out above, we then use to inform the development of specific policy, regulatory and educational recommendations to reduce the potential harms from the use of CABs in Canada. [...] In response to the Health Canada directive and the provincial policies capping caffeine content, the producers of pre-mixed caffeinated alcoholic beverages reformulated their products in the summer of 2010 to substantially reduce the amount of caffeine. [...] In light of the findings regarding effective interventions for reducing alcohol consumption and related harms and costs, and the survey of the current legal and policy environment provided above, the following suite of policy, regulatory and educational recommendations are made with the goal of reducing the health and safety problems related to CAB use in Canada. [...] Further, there should be an increase in surveillance and research on CAB use and its health and safety consequences to better characterize patterns of use, risks and harms, and to inform the development and evaluation of policy initiatives. [...] Given that alcohol is already a leading cause of preventable death and disability among youth and young adults, a comprehensive and proactive suite of initiatives to discourage the co-administration of energy drinks and alcohol is urgently required to minimize health and safety harms.