Chocolate milk goes alcoholic.....

Retail giant Costco stocks shelves with alcoholic chocolate milk

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 2:17 PM on 31st December 2010

First there was alcoholic whipped cream, then the controversial Four Loko caffeinated strong drink - and now retail giant Costco has put its considerable weight behind a new brand of alcoholic chocolate milk.

Adult Chocolate Milk, which comes in a distinctive 250ml bottle with a swing-top cap, is being sold in a high-profile spot in Costco stores in California.

According to Edwin Goei, a blogger on the OC Weekly website, the 40 proof alcoholic milk was being displayed just inside the entrance to the Tustin store. 

On sale at Costco: The 40 proof Afult Chocolate Milk is being sold at retail giant Costco for around $15

He said: 'It wasn't hidden in some back corner of the warehouse, where the rest of the booze is stored. It was displayed right smack in the front of the store, at the entrance, the first thing you see as you flash your membership card.' 

The drink has gone on sale relatively recently, but is likely to draw the same criticism as its alcoholic friends Cream - the alcoholic whipped cream - and Four Loco. 

Adult Chocolate Milk was developed by Newport Beach mother Tracy Reinhardt, who claims she mixed up the liquor in her kitchen after putting her kids to bed one night.

After enjoying the results and spotting the marketing potential, she teamed up with Nikki Halbur, a former classmate from Santa Ana's Mater Dei High School. 

Together they refined the formula, then started selling and marketing it. 

The high-profile spot in Costco is a major coup for the fledgling company.

In December the Food and Drug Administration removed Four Loko off the shelves after outcry over the damaging aspects of the drink. 

The agency said the combination of caffeine and alcohol in the drinks can lead to a 'wide-awake drunk' and have led to alcohol poisoning, car accidents and assaults.

Banned: Four Loko - a caffeinated alcoholic drink - was removed from sale

The agency said Phusion Projects, maker of Four Loko, and United Brands Co., maker of Joose, were ordered to remove their products from retail.

Charge Beverages and New Century Brewing said they no longer are producing their alcoholic energy drinks.

The controversial drinks drew national attention after a girl nearly died and nearly a dozen students from Central Washington University were rushed to hospital.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1342940/Costco-courts-controversy-selling-alcoholic-chocolate-milk.html#ixzz19heylzLQ