27 Feb ODE TO JUNK FOOD: FOUR LOKO
While we have written about BMX’s love affair with junk food in the past (La Belle Province, Taco Bell), I feel the need to write about another recent popular indulgence: Four Loko. Yes, it is not what one would call food, but it still falls under the junk category. If you’ve been under a rock for the last six months, let me explain. Four Loko fever seemed to sweep not only BMX, but North America by storm last summer, and left a trail of destruction in its path. While we cannot get the caffeinated malt alcoholic drink in Canada, that didn’t stop plenty of riders from shopping for them at stores south of the border. It is said that just two or three of these monstrous 23.5 oz cans can leave a person in a world of hurt and hangover regret. They come in a variety of fruit flavours such as grape, watermelon, lemon-lime, cranberry lemonade. Nowadays it’s harder to find a can of the original recipe Loko in stores after much criticism and controversy came from several US campuses after many students began experiencing injuries, blackouts, and often hospitalization from over consumption of the drink. This led to the Liquor Control Commission in several states to ban the drink, retailers voluntarily pulling the drink from shelves, and eventually in November 2010 a ban of the sale of caffeinated alcoholic beverages by the Food and Drug Administration.
While I feel that Four Loko might be old news by now, there are still places where people can and are finding them for sale, and with the number of Canadian riders flocking down to warmer US climates this winter, no shortage of stories of people getting Loko’d. On a personal note, I think it tastes like a horrible mix of an energy drink and cough medicine, but to each their own. My favourite thing to have come out of all the Four Loko mania however is the music video that you can watch after you click below.