AB CUTS THE ABV IN TILT

Now that high alcohol drinks in a can are no longer as trendy as they once were, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA’s US unit is lowering the alcoholic content in large containers of its popular Tilt malt beverage as the company seeks to improve the product’s public image. Tilt will be reformulated to contain 8% alcohol by volume, compared with the original 12% for its 24-ounce offering. The new products are being released this summer, and the alcohol content in all drinks over 16 ounces will be capped going forward. The move comes as malt beverages such as Tilt and Four Loko face a flurry of controversy over their marketing tactics, with allegations that the brightly colored, high-alcohol products encourage underage and binge drinking. At the end of last year, the US government led an effort to remove highly alcoholic, highly caffeinated beverages from store shelves after a number of incidents, including several fatalities, involving young drinkers.