Health Canada is proposing changes the would significantly cut the amount of alcohol in flavored alcohol beverages sold in convenience stores.
Beverages such as Four Loko, FCKD UP, and Mojo — some of which have been pulled from store shelves in recent months, but many other brands remain — can contain as many as four standard drinks per container. The changes would see that cut down to one and a half drinks.
The idea is to help protect people — especially young people — from overconsuming.
This past March, a Laval high-schooler, 14-year-old Athena Gervais, died after reportedly consuming one of the strong beverages, FCKD UP, in a short amount of time. Within months of that incident, the drink's maker decided to stop making it.
Hubert Sacy, the head of Educ'Alcool, a lobby group which promotes responsible drinking, says the move by the feds doesn't go far enough to protect youngsters.
"It's half a step, incomplete. It's in the right direction, but it's still extremely disappointing," Sacy says. "For the last nine and a half months we've been asking Health Canada to make a rule that's extremely simple — one standard drink of alcohol per can. The problem is they came out with this strange rule of one and a half drinks per can."
Sacy also says the new rules do nothing to force drinkmakers to tone down the colors and the packaging of their cans to make them more attractive to kids.
The health department will consult Canadians on the proposal between Dec. 22 and Feb. 9.