TY - JOUR
T1 - Price of Four Loko in Large U.S. Cities, 2018
AU - Rossheim, Matthew E.
AU - Thombs, Dennis L.
AU - Treffers, Ryan D.
AU - Trangenstein, Pamela J.
AU - McDonald, Kayla K.
AU - Ahmad, Reema
AU - Siklo, Sieka S.
AU - Gonzalez-Pons, Kwynn M.
AU - Suzuki, Sumihiro
AU - Jernigan, David H.
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank the following students for their help developing the sampling frame and collecting data: Humera Ahmed, Kayleigh Backus, Mawyah Bashatah, Michele Fields, Kathryn Hogan, Mehak Khokhar, Xiaojie Li, Tomomi Owens, Jessica Penaloza, Uyen Tran, and Helen Zeraye. PJT was supported by Award Numbers T32AA007240, Graduate Research Training in Alcohol Problems: Alcohol-Related Disparities and P50AA005595, Epidemiology of Alcohol Problems: Alcohol-Related Disparities from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official view of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism or the National Institutes of Health.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 by the Research Society on Alcoholism
PY - 2019/7
Y1 - 2019/7
N2 - Background: Supersized alcopops are flavored alcoholic beverages that contain up to 5.5 standard alcoholic drinks in a single can. Limited research suggests Four Loko—the most commonly consumed supersized alcopop by underage drinkers—is among the least expensive ready-to-drink alcohol products on the U.S. market. This is a public health concern because alcohol prices are inversely associated with consumption and related harms, particularly among youth. This study investigated Four Loko's retail price per volume of alcohol in large U.S. cities. Methods: This study used multistage random sampling to collect data in the largest city of each state and Washington, DC. A simple random sample of 5 ZIP codes from each city was selected and entered into Four Loko's website product locator. Within ZIP codes, up to 4 stores were randomly selected and contacted by telephone. Retailers were interviewed about Four Loko in regard to: availability, volume, alcohol by volume (abv), price for 1 can, and discounts for purchasing more than 1 can. Results: The sample included 344 retail stores with Four Loko in stock. Average price per standard alcoholic drink (i.e., 14 g of absolute alcohol) was $0.54 for Four Loko products. Taking into account volume, price, and discounts, an average of 17 standard alcoholic drinks could be purchased via Four Loko with $10. Adjusted analysis using linear regression showed that availability of bulk price discounts and higher abv (14% vs. 12%) were associated with lower price per drink. Conclusion: This study verifies that Four Loko is among the least expensive ready-to-drink alcohol available for purchase in the United States. Given that consuming a single supersized alcopop constitutes binge drinking and is therefore unsafe, regulatory agencies should consider a variety of steps to reduce the availability and abv of these products and increase their retail price in order to reduce and prevent unsafe alcohol consumption.
AB - Background: Supersized alcopops are flavored alcoholic beverages that contain up to 5.5 standard alcoholic drinks in a single can. Limited research suggests Four Loko—the most commonly consumed supersized alcopop by underage drinkers—is among the least expensive ready-to-drink alcohol products on the U.S. market. This is a public health concern because alcohol prices are inversely associated with consumption and related harms, particularly among youth. This study investigated Four Loko's retail price per volume of alcohol in large U.S. cities. Methods: This study used multistage random sampling to collect data in the largest city of each state and Washington, DC. A simple random sample of 5 ZIP codes from each city was selected and entered into Four Loko's website product locator. Within ZIP codes, up to 4 stores were randomly selected and contacted by telephone. Retailers were interviewed about Four Loko in regard to: availability, volume, alcohol by volume (abv), price for 1 can, and discounts for purchasing more than 1 can. Results: The sample included 344 retail stores with Four Loko in stock. Average price per standard alcoholic drink (i.e., 14 g of absolute alcohol) was $0.54 for Four Loko products. Taking into account volume, price, and discounts, an average of 17 standard alcoholic drinks could be purchased via Four Loko with $10. Adjusted analysis using linear regression showed that availability of bulk price discounts and higher abv (14% vs. 12%) were associated with lower price per drink. Conclusion: This study verifies that Four Loko is among the least expensive ready-to-drink alcohol available for purchase in the United States. Given that consuming a single supersized alcopop constitutes binge drinking and is therefore unsafe, regulatory agencies should consider a variety of steps to reduce the availability and abv of these products and increase their retail price in order to reduce and prevent unsafe alcohol consumption.
KW - Alcohol Pricing
KW - Convenience Stores
KW - Flavored Alcoholic Beverages
KW - Flavored Malt Beverages
KW - Gas Stations
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85066600701&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/acer.14080
DO - 10.1111/acer.14080
M3 - Article
C2 - 31066910
AN - SCOPUS:85066600701
SN - 0145-6008
VL - 43
SP - 1585
EP - 1590
JO - Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research
JF - Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research
IS - 7
ER -