Will powdered alcohol be on store shelves soon?

Palcohol, the brand name given to a new powdered alcohol product, is currently waiting in the wings of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), pending approval. Though this isn’t the first powdered alcohol product to be developed, it is the first such beverage powder to make its way toward stores in the United States.

Early reports indicated the FDA had already approved Palcohol, but — possibly due to backlash on the health implications — FDA representative Tom Hogue,  said in an email late Monday that the approvals were issued in error, according to the AP.

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“An oversight of this nature does not ring true to me,” said Robert Lehrman, who runs a beverage law website. He suggested that the bureau may have heard back from lawmakers wanting more information on the powdered alcohols, forcing the FDA to rescind approvals.

The company manufacturing Palcohol stated the FDA retraction of approval had to do with labeling issues; “There seemed to be a discrepancy on our fill level, how much powder is in the bag,” they said in a statement.

What is the point of powdered alcohol?

Powdered alcohol has one purpose: convenience. People looking to have an alcoholic beverage at an event or gathering wouldn’t have to worry about buying a case of beer or bulky drink mixes. All it would take is a one-ounce packet and you could mix the contents into almost any regular beverage, anywhere.

Palcohol, should it ever make it to store shelves, will offer six varieties of powdered alcohol, including vodka, rum and four cocktails — Cosmopolitan, Mojito, Powderita and Lemon Drop. The process behind the powdered beverage is relatively simple as far as chemists are concerned; certain carbohydrates–in this case certain sugars–are used to trap alcohol molecules. Those carbohydrates are then kept in a sealed container to maintain their powdered state and to allow a small, convenient packet for transport.

“It has now been discovered that certain carbohydrate materials, when suitably modified with respect to physical form, will, in the presence of significant amounts of water, absorb large quantities of alcohol to form stable, flowable carbohydrate powders containing up to 60 percent by weight ethanol,” the patent request suggested, as reported by VICE. “Significantly, certain of these alcohol-containing powders will readily dissolve in cold water to form low-viscosity, clear, colorless, alcoholic solutions.”