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  FDA raids stores selling alcoholic energy beverages POWERFUL:The FDA said alcoholic energy drinks with ‘Western’ medicinal ingredients are listed as prescription drugs and cannot be sold unlicensed By Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter 

   The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday said that some alcoholic beverages that are marketed as energy drinks contain high levels of alcohol and should not be drunk before driving, and that a recent inspection found 64 shops selling these drinks without a license.

A team including representatives from the agency, local health departments and the police, inspected 272 shops suspected of selling beverages containing ingredients it described as “Western” medicine, between January and last month.

FDA northern Taiwan section head Wu Ming-mei (吳明美) said that the focus of the inspections was “alcoholic energy drinks containing ‘Western’ medicinal ingredients,” such as well-known herbal remedy drinks Paolyta B and Sanyo Whisbih.

According to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法), alcoholic drinks with medicinal ingredients can only be sold by shops that have the correct license, and shops that sell them without a license face fines of between NT$30,000 and NT$2 million (US$927.5 and US$61,833), she said.

A total of 64 shops — 44 betel nut stalls, 19 grocery stores and one Internet cafe — were found illegally selling these drinks without a license, Wu said, adding that the FDA imposed fines totalling NT$1.08 million on these businesses.

She said that the alcohol content of Paolyta B and Sanyo Whisbih is about 10 percent — about twice as high as average-strength beer, so drinking these beverages before driving can be dangerous.

“You would fail a roadside sobriety test after drinking a bottle or even half a bottle of these types of beverages,” she said, adding that there have been more than a dozen cases of drivers being sanctioned after drinking alcoholic energy drinks.

  The FDA said alcoholic energy drinks with “Western” medicinal ingredients are listed as prescription drugs that can only be purchased at pharmacies or shops with the correct licenses, and that they should be consumed according to the manufacturers’ guidelines — such as three times a day, and only 30ml to 40ml each time — and should not be mixed with coffee or rice wine.

      

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