Policy

Does David Katz Know About This?

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Anyone who is for sanity and safety in marketing has to weep over this:

It might look like a regular can of whipped cream, but if you take a closer look at the label, you'll see why some university students are really buzzing about whipped lightning.

"I think it's awesome, you can throw it on some Jell-O shots. It'd be fantastic," UCF student Bo Frisby said.The whipped treat comes in different flavors, and it's infused with alcohol. The alcohol content is fairly high, 18 percent by volume, that's more than three times the amount found in most beers….

Mothers Against Drunk Driving in Florida said it's never even heard of the alcoholic whipped cream, but would be concerned about the high level of alcohol packed in something most people consider dessert.

"Even regular whipped cream is something people don't use in moderation, alcoholic whipped cream, I don't know if that would be a good idea," [UCF student Lisette] Diaz said.

Combining alcohol and butterfat is—in one word—crazy. Don't do it! It has an excellent chance of hurting you, and a fairly good chance of tasting good.

The commercial products at the center of the current scandal combine highly concentrated alcohol—the equivalent of 3.8 beers in a single can—with a full day's worth of cream and sugar. And consider how easy it would be to spray this stuff on top of coffee, thereby multiplying the hazards by adding caffeine to the mix. You will be so wired that you will continue drinking until you die of acute alcohol poisoning or crash into a telephone pole. Maybe both! It has happened! At least once! Which is one time too many!

It's hard to imagine any argument for such products or any argument against banning them.

Combining alcohol and butterfat is, indeed, crazy. It can be lethally crazy, so it's a mistake you may not get to make twice. Unless you're a zombie or something.