FDA is not cuckoo for Coco Loko, a chocolatey alternative to snorting cocaine

Enlarge (credit: Legal Lean)

In July, US Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer held a press conference to denounce a chocolate-flavored energy powder meant for snorting, called Coco Loko. He dubbed it "cocaine on training wheels" and called on the Food and Drug Administration to investigate.

The agency did, it turns out. And though regulators didn't come up with a description quite as catchy as Schumer's, their assessment of Coco Loko was even more damning.

Regulators determined that the powder was an unapproved new drug and that its maker, Legal Lean, was unlawfully marketing it, according to a Tuesday announcement. Moreover, the agency also looked into another product by the company, Legal Lean Syrup. The agency found that it, too, was an unapproved drug. The syrup contained an undisclosed sedative, doxylamine, which is found in the over-the-counter sleep-aid Unisom.

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