Hard lemonade, hard seltzer, beer and lemonade mixes, wine plus fruit drinks, frozen cocktails, and vodka soda are all examples of coolers, sugar sweetened alcoholic drinks. For adolescents and college-aged young adults these sweetened alcoholic drinks mask the stronger taste of alcohol and promote alcohol consumption.
Researchers from the University of Guelph feel these sweetened beverages, that taste more like soda or a fruit drink, may act as a gateway to promote harmful alcohol consumption. They taste sweet and it is far too easy to drink too much. In addition, ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages often contain very high amounts of sugar and these products are not required to have a nutrition label. Alcohol contains no fat or protein, so sweetened alcoholic drinks will get the majority of calories simply from sugar and alcohol.
