While chocolate milk is now being promoted as a way for people to refuel after a workout, the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Commission has turned downed a chocolate milk drink aimed at those who want a buzz.

Radio Iowa’s Dar Danielson reports: Chocolate milk :48

The commission has voted against adding a drink called “Adult Chocolate Milk” to the products that are sold by the state-controlled liquor business.

Commission chair, Greg Nashleanas says there are some similar type of products already being sold as drink mixes, but this comes ready to drink in a milk bottle. He says the original marketing said you could “go back to your childhood” when you drank the product, and thought he company said it had changed the marketing, he says they have a safety responsibility when looking at products, and this had some red flags.

Nashelenas says the drink is 40-proof , containing 15% alcohol, and the way it is presented could cause problems. Nashleanas says a young child could mistakenly drink the product thinking it was regular chocolate milk. The decision by the commission came after the manufacturer appealed the decision of Alcoholic Beverages Division staff and the commissioner that the product should not be sold.

Nashleanas says the three-level appeal process was created when Stephen Larson took over as the head of A.B.D., and it’s the first appeal the commission has heard. Nashleanas says it shows that they have a serious responsibility that the sale of alcohol is done in good faith and with good decisions.

A.B.D. spokesperson, Tonya Dusold, says they have over 1,400 products they sell and they are constantly reviewing new requests. Dusold says the number of new products varies month-to-month as they don’t usually review new products. They don’t usually review new products in October, November and December, but in the other months they can have from five to 35 new products in a month.

Some of the “new” products are just variations of the ones already being sold. She says the new products could be a new size of something like Black Velvet, and she says they don’t have listing meetings on those, they are usually presented as an extension of a product and a decision is made on them.

The chocolate milk with alcohol in it is sold in some other states, but Dusold says it is not sold in a majority of states the control the sale of alcohol products like the Iowa system.

Photo courtesy Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division.