Big Soda's alcoholic beverages have health experts worried
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — On a quiet street corner, a sign points to the birthplace of a beverage giant: here, in 1954, the Tri-City Beverage Corporation bottled its first case of Mountain Dew.
Soda was originally colorless and lemon-lime flavored, and its inventors used it as a mixer with bourbon. "Mountain dew" is also a nickname for moonshine, which farmers sometimes process from leftover crops. Labels on early soda bottles promised it was "specially blended in the traditional hillbilly style". brand aimed at young people, marketed by extreme sports athletes, that the soft drink has left behind its Appalachian roots.
In a way, Mountain Dew has come full circle it came full circle last year when PepsiCo steered the brand towards a new alcoholic beverage: Hard Mtn Dew. At a One Stop Wine and Spirits event attended by East Tennessee State University students, the new 24-ounce cans are prominently displayed. Although the brew bears little resemblance to its ancestor, its alcohol content is "exactly what Mountain Dew is," said Charles Gordon Jr., owner of Tri-City Beverage.
Hard Mtn Dew reflects a major shift in the alcohol industry, which over the past century produced primarily beverages classified as beer, wine, or spirits. In recent years, these boundaries have blurred and a fourth category of ready-to-drink beverages has emerged – hard seltzers and other flavored malt drinks, wine coolers and canned cocktails. Although these products differ in the main ingredients and the way the alcohol is processed, all are generally flavored and packaged for occasional consumption.
It is not the first time a new type of alcoholic beverage exploded in popularity, but some earlier fads were associated with unique products like Zima, Smirnoff Ice, or Four Loko. "It's really only been in the last three to four years that it's become a major category," said Nadine Sarwat, beverage analyst at Bernstein Research. and canned ready-to-drink cocktails were valued at nearly $10 billion in 2021 by firm Grand View Research, which expects double-digit growth in the coming years. And in a major shift, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola launched alcoholic products in the US market. In February, energy drink maker Monster Beverage began rolling out its first line of alcoholic beverages called The Beast Unleashed.
But as deaths related to alcohol in America are hitting record highs, regulators and public health experts fear the new class of beverages and industry expansion will change the way people buy and drink alcohol. Some have also expressed concern that the convenience of the new products could reverse the long-term decline in alcohol consumption among young people. And recent studies show that drinking just one alcoholic drink a day increases the risk of cancer and heart disease.
Coca-Cola and Monster Beverage refused the repeated requests for comment, and PepsiCo has referred questions about its branded products to independent companies licensed to manufacture and market them.
Pamela Trangenstein, Group Scientist of Alcohol Research at the Public Health Institute in California, recently oversaw a study at college football games. She described a sea of empty White Claw hard seltzer cans covering the floor of a student section at a stadium. feel like I don't drink alcohol," she said.
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — On a quiet street corner, a sign points to the birthplace of a beverage giant: here, in 1954, the Tri-City Beverage Corporation bottled its first case of Mountain Dew.
Soda was originally colorless and lemon-lime flavored, and its inventors used it as a mixer with bourbon. "Mountain dew" is also a nickname for moonshine, which farmers sometimes process from leftover crops. Labels on early soda bottles promised it was "specially blended in the traditional hillbilly style". brand aimed at young people, marketed by extreme sports athletes, that the soft drink has left behind its Appalachian roots.
In a way, Mountain Dew has come full circle it came full circle last year when PepsiCo steered the brand towards a new alcoholic beverage: Hard Mtn Dew. At a One Stop Wine and Spirits event attended by East Tennessee State University students, the new 24-ounce cans are prominently displayed. Although the brew bears little resemblance to its ancestor, its alcohol content is "exactly what Mountain Dew is," said Charles Gordon Jr., owner of Tri-City Beverage.
Hard Mtn Dew reflects a major shift in the alcohol industry, which over the past century produced primarily beverages classified as beer, wine, or spirits. In recent years, these boundaries have blurred and a fourth category of ready-to-drink beverages has emerged – hard seltzers and other flavored malt drinks, wine coolers and canned cocktails. Although these products differ in the main ingredients and the way the alcohol is processed, all are generally flavored and packaged for occasional consumption.
It is not the first time a new type of alcoholic beverage exploded in popularity, but some earlier fads were associated with unique products like Zima, Smirnoff Ice, or Four Loko. "It's really only been in the last three to four years that it's become a major category," said Nadine Sarwat, beverage analyst at Bernstein Research. and canned ready-to-drink cocktails were valued at nearly $10 billion in 2021 by firm Grand View Research, which expects double-digit growth in the coming years. And in a major shift, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola launched alcoholic products in the US market. In February, energy drink maker Monster Beverage began rolling out its first line of alcoholic beverages called The Beast Unleashed.
But as deaths related to alcohol in America are hitting record highs, regulators and public health experts fear the new class of beverages and industry expansion will change the way people buy and drink alcohol. Some have also expressed concern that the convenience of the new products could reverse the long-term decline in alcohol consumption among young people. And recent studies show that drinking just one alcoholic drink a day increases the risk of cancer and heart disease.
Coca-Cola and Monster Beverage refused the repeated requests for comment, and PepsiCo has referred questions about its branded products to independent companies licensed to manufacture and market them.
Pamela Trangenstein, Group Scientist of Alcohol Research at the Public Health Institute in California, recently oversaw a study at college football games. She described a sea of empty White Claw hard seltzer cans covering the floor of a student section at a stadium. feel like I don't drink alcohol," she said.
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