"You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had" is title of evergreen Muddy Waters blues tune, referring to a house and a woman. That might be paraphrased as refrain of social media magnet and enfant terrible Logan Paul after Health Canada, the regulator north of border, declared that Prime Energy exceeds its limit of 180 mg per 12-oz package and will be banned from sale in Canada. "The crazy part about that is we don't even distribute Prime Energy in Canada," the Prime Hydration frontman posted yesterday after story made the media rounds at time energy drinks have come under microscope again.

The media statements were marshalled well in advance as bev industry lobbyists, health orgs and medical experts awaited release of aspartame study from World Health Organization unit called IARC that controversially found "limited evidence of carcinogenicity" in humans after review of prior studies but didn't go so far as to revise amounts it lists as acceptable to consume each day. Talk about mixed messages. After leak by Reuters prematurely unveiled the scenario (BBI, Jun 30), situation played out generally as anticipated, with expressions of skepticism not just from bev industry, as one would expect, but also FDA, which has indicated it believes different WHO arm, dubbed JECFA, is more reliable arbiter of what's safe. Lobbyist group American Beverage Assn, as expected, pointed to JECFA as "the WHO expert food safety agency doing the more rigorous and comprehensive review, and most importantly, the risk to human health. JECFA's conclusions will be what matters for consumers when it comes to health and safety. The FDA, HHS and even IARC agree that JECFA is the agency to determine the safety of aspartame." Consumer advocates like Center for Science in Public Policy took stance that even inconclusive evidence should be heeded. FDA "should not dig its heels in defense of a possible carcinogen," it declared. "The FDA, and other food safety authorities around the world, should take IARC's assessment seriously and take steps to remove this possible carcinogen from the food supply."

A decade ago, VPX Sports execs welcomed BBI editor to their booth at the 2012 NACS c-store expo to show off a new brand they had up their sleeve to join a portfolio dominated on RTD side by Redline. "This better work," one of them muttered, knowing we were aware that, after a bout of overexpansion, VPX founder Jack Owoc had weeks earlier only barely managed to keep the company from slipping out of his hands. So he really needed the new brand to connect.

"The death of the beer festival is jolting the craft brewing industry," Axios Denver headlined this wk, adding that it's "leading to an existential crisis." Despite a strong dose of hyperbole, there's a clear downward trend in CO and across the country post-Covid. Major festivals are "vanishing from the calendar this year amid tightening economic conditions and fatigue among fans," article notes, while those that remain often can't draw the same crowds.

Atlanta Brewing's planned opening at the Underground is officially off. The brewery's lease was terminated by Underground Atlanta owners Lalani Ventures due to construction delays, several outlets reported and Atlanta Brewing Prexy/CEO Alton Shields confirmed to Eater. Recall, co announced relocation plans a yr ago after closing its facility, downsizing staff and reportedly struggling to meet payroll (see July 11, 2022 issue). But now it's back to the drawing board for Georgia's oldest craft brewery.

Whether it's familiar on-premise pay-to-play arrangements, off-premise retailer data demands, emerging display requirements for digital markets or otherwise, third parties play a key role in existing mkt access issues faced by small brewers, Brewers Assn genl counsel Marc Sorini wrote in comments to TTB as part of agency's review of fed trade practice regs. Org broadly requested "modernization" of TTB's rules, including novel changes to aid in agency enforcement. Key issues of category mgmt and event/venue sponsorships remain top of mind for small brewers, Marc reminds. But even those often entail 3d parties.

When drilling down to what's ailing craft beer in Total Wine & More stores, it's "all about seasonals," director of beer merchandising Andrea Starr shared on Brewbound Brew Talks panel alongside Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione, Burke Dist Chief Corporate Officer Kristen Burke, and Bump Williams Consulting VP of Analytics Dave Williams. There's been a "huge shift" toward hard bevs, FMBs and hard seltzers (including spirits-based) at Total Wine stores and as craft beer declines "a bit," some of that is "going into" hard bevs. So how can craft "come into the picture" within the hard bev category, Andrea wondered. But Total Wine also makin' more space for non-alc, and "if you lump in" NAs with craft, the category's in a better position.

It's a mixed bag in MA craftland, according to recent health of the industry survey conducted by MA Brewers Guild, Castle Island Brewing founder Adam Romanow shared during Brew Talks Boston event hosted by Brewbound. There's "mixed messaging" with 50% of members growing revs vs last yr and half of members expecting to add locations within the next yr, but more members seeing "sales decline" and some "worried" about carrying too much debt, among other challenges. Across the board, one "very consistent" message is the continued "big shift" in revenue makeup toward taprooms/DTC sales as wholesale rev becomes a "smaller piece" of their biz, Adam added. There's still "a lot of positivity," and "cautious optimism," but there are more challenges mounting these days too.

Another craft-on-craft deal inked, as NV's top-2 craft breweries, Great Basin and Revision, will merge to form Nevada Beverage Alliance, cos announced. Revision is NV's largest local brewery after sizable growth spurt to 19K bbls in 2019. But volume has been up and down since, including tuff 17% drop to 18K bbls in 2022 vs 2021, according to Brewers Assn stats. And Revision sales are down tuff double-digits in 2023 scans. Great Basin is NV's oldest brewery and had already merged with Local Food Group - local restaurant group and Carson City brewpub owner - in Sep 2021 after previously having deal to sell to Mammoth Brewing that ultimately fell apart (see Vol 12, No 82). Great Basin struggled to get back to peak volume as well, dipping slightly below 7K bbls in 2022, per BA. Yet while trends are tuffer these days, combined cos make up sizable chunk of NV craft volume collectively.