Disturbing truth behind cocktail in a can taking colleges by storm,
Potent, pocket-sized cocktails have gained a cult following.
Social media is ablaze with videos of teens and college students chugging BuzzBallz, ready-made cocktails containing vodka and rum mixed with juices and packed with sugar.
In 2023, the company sold seven million cases of the drink, with an estimated nine million bought last year.
The small, round and brightly colored products have cheeky names such as Choc Tease and Lotta Colada. They cost $3.50 for a 6.8oz can and have a whooping 15 percent alcohol by volume, setting a drinker up to get dangerously drunk very quickly.
Most popular canned cocktails like High Noon, Topo Chico and Truly have just five percent ABV per 12oz can.
Fans of BuzzBallz often post on social media – grimacing after taking their first sip, or describing how drunk they get after just three gulps.
Some experiment with how intoxicated they can get after just a single cocktail, testing their blood alcohol level after each bottle until they reached the legal limit of 0.08 blood alcohol concentration (BAC).
It took the two large men about four drinks to hit the mark. Two women exceeded that threshold before finishing their second can.
Another TikToker said in a video of herself struggling to keep one of the drinks down that it took only two to cause her to ‘black out,’ when someone drinks so much that their brain temporarily loses its ability to create new memories.
But behind the appealing packaging and sweet taste is a disturbing truth about the drink.
In addition to its high ABV, a single BuzzBallz cocktail has nearly 30 grams of sugar, equivalent to the amount in an 8.8oz can of Coca-Cola.
The combination of high sugar and alcohol can cause heart palpitations and irregular heartbeats.
‘I wouldn’t recommend drinking BuzzBallz, not even occasionally,’ Dr Michelle Routhenstein, a preventive cardiology dietitian, told the Daily Mail.
Founded by Merrilee Kick, a former teacher from Texas, in 2009, BuzzBallz spent over a decade as a niche novelty before social media catapulted the ready-to-drink cocktails into a Gen Z sensation.
One TikToker filmed herself after her first time drinking the cocktail, saying: ‘A few BuzzBallz can take so many things off your mind but can make you look like this,’ as she vomited into a bucket at her kitchen table.
Another young woman filmed herself drinking a BuzzBallz, grimacing after each sip, with the caption, ‘POV: You love the feeling but hate the process.’
Among the tens of thousands of videos on TikTok, another shows a woman stumbling and nearly passing out after drinking BuzzBallz. She wrote: this is your reminder to leave them BuzzBallz alone. Haven’t picked one up since. I will never in my life drink another one.’
And a few men showed their weight-gain and bloating after repeated drinking of BuzzBallz.
As its popularity continues to grow in both the US and beyond, multiple doctors are warning of the effects it can have on heart health and the increased risk of Type 2 diabetes due to the mixture of high alcohol content and excessive sugar in each BuzzBallz can.
Dr Routhenstein said: ‘With [nearly] 15 percent alcohol and nearly 30 grams of added sugar in a single serving, they pack an undesirable combination that can spike blood pressure and blood sugar, cause arrhythmias, strain the liver, promote fat buildup, and increase inflammation.
The added sugar in beverages like BuzzBallz is particularly concerning because it constitutes a significant portion, if not the entire daily limit, in just one serving.
The American Heart Association recommends men consume no more than 36 grams of added sugar daily, and women no more than 25 grams.
With nearly 30 grams in a single can, consuming one easily pushes intake into excess, posing what Dr Routhenstein called an ‘unnecessary risk with no health benefit.’
The massive dose of sugar is rapidly broken down into glucose, flooding the bloodstream. The body responds by releasing the hormone insulin to help cells absorb this glucose for energy.
Chronically overloading the body with sugar can induce insulin resistance, impairing blood sugar regulation and leading to high glucose levels that cause type 2 diabetes.
Beyond diabetes, this cycle of sugar overload and insulin resistance is a primary driver of serious health issues. It promotes weight gain, increases fat buildup in the liver, and leads to chronic inflammation and high blood pressure — all of which raise the risk of heart attack and stroke.
A 2014 study in JAMA Internal Medicine found people who consumed 25 percent or more of their daily calories from sugar were over twice as likely to die from heart disease than people who got slightly more or about the same portion of daily calories from sugar.
Dr Rani Aravamudhan, a general medicine physician, told the Daily Mail: ‘The sweet and interesting flavors of these drinks can easily mask the intoxicating effect of the high alcohol content, leading to sometimes unintentional excessive or binge drinking.’
For a novice drinker or someone who dislikes the taste of alcohol, these drinks don’t taste like a ‘real’ alcoholic beverage.
Health experts warn they could lead to a dangerous level of intoxication as people may not realize how drunk they are getting.
This increases the risks of injury, poor decision-making and acute alcohol poisoning.
Biologically, young people are particularly vulnerable. Their brains are still developing, particularly the prefrontal cortex, the region responsible for judgment, impulse control, and risk assessment.
A high-alcohol drink that goes down easily can rapidly overwhelm this still-maturing circuit, leading to blackouts, alcohol poisoning, and poor decisions with lasting consequences.
Furthermore, a younger liver metabolizes alcohol less efficiently, leading to quicker and more intense intoxication than an adult might experience from the same amount.
BuzzBallz has not returned the Daily Mail’s request for comment.
