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Last Call For "Lazy Cakes," The Poor Man's Faux Pot Brownie
By
Ben Yakas
Published Aug 4, 2011
Modified Aug 4, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Aug 4, 2011
Modified Aug 4, 2011
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All the rules have changed in this post-Four Loko world—now we're left sitting up late at night, wondering which of our favorite mostly-legal bodega products will be the next to fold under the mighty hand of the FDA. And it seems we've found a new beautiful corpse: the makers of melatonin-laced brownies "Lazy Larry", or as they're better known "Lazy Cakes," has been warned that the government considers them unsafe, and could seize them from store shelves at any minute!
The brownies are filled with melatonin, a naturally occurring hormone that makes most people feel sleepy, and which is advertised as a stress reliever. But the product goes out of its way to use the gilded language/imagery of marijuana to promote itself ("Relaxation Baked In), while the company goes out of its way to deny any relationship between the two: "It's definitely not a pot brownie. Things that are in this brownie have been used for years to relax. [Such as] melatonin, valerian root, rose hips. Standard stuff you can pretty much buy at any Walgreens or Walmart or anywhere," said co-creator Tim Barham.
But it seems their attempts to have their cake and eat it have backfired now, as the FDA sent a letter to the manufacturer HBB recently saying it can seize the brownies if they continue to make and market them, arguing that the brownies are "adulterated" because of the added levels of melatonin. HBB wrote on their Facebook page that the fight wasn't really over the product, but rather, their marketing scheme:
Lets clear up the rumors on the street and in the press: we are in receipt of a letter from the FDA and are taking immediate steps to address their concerns—all of which stem from the way the product is packaged, labeled and marketed. To be clear, there has never been any suggestion that the product itself is unsafe in any way. We look forward to continuing to work closely with the FDA to immediately remedy these concerns, and to ensure compliance with FDA’s dietary supplement regulations.
There's one thing all the Lazy Larry users agree on: the brownies really help you sleep. Gabby Bevel said in an interview that she slept 13 hours after eating one Lazy Cakes snack. Niki D'Andrea said she was shocked at how sleepy it made her: "I really did go to bed for about, I think 10 to 12 hours after I ate that first Lazy Cake, so well, maybe I should have started with half."
Tagged
fda
lazy cakes
lazy larrys
melatonin
pot brownies
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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