Alcoholic beverages will no longer be able to masquerade as energy drinks after the Minister of Health and Attorney General banded together to remove them from unlicensed stores.

Beverages such as Zion, Baba Root and Magnum will now be categorised as alcohol.

Magnum was the fortified wine former ferry pilot Dwayne Pearman drank before he crashed a fast ferry, with 60 people aboard, into a public dock in December.

Officers found a bottle of the tonic wine in his bag and another six empty bottles in a bin. A blood test revealed he had between 262 and 264 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood — more than two and a half times the marine limit.

In court Mr. Pearman said he was not aware that Magnum was alcoholic because it was sold in the regular aisles at grocery stores. The Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU) took a similar stance when they argued that Mr. Pearman should not lose his job over the incident.

Earlier this week Minister of Health Nelson Bascome and Attorney General Sen. Kim Wilson issued a warning to shops that continue to sell these drinks with out a liquor licence.

Mr. Bascome said: "I am very concerned that some businesses are knowingly selling alcoholic beverages without a licence. These beverages are available for general sale to minors and unsuspecting members of the community.

"I wish this to serve as a general warning to all business owners that the Ministry of Health and the Police will be working in conjunction to identify those locations and to then take the necessary steps to bring offenders before the courts."

Sen. Wilson pointed out that, as stipulated in section two of the Liquor Licence Act 1974, persons or establishments that sell intoxicating liquor may only do so if they have first been granted a liquor licence to do so.

"Any person who sells any intoxicating liquor by retail or wholesale in breach of a provision of the act is committing an offence," she added.

Sen. Wilson said: "Where the intoxicating liquor is sold on a retailer's premises but is not to be consumed on such premises, then the retailer will be required to have a class A licence."

The Act carries a penalty of six months imprisonment or a fine of $1,000.

Technical officers analysed several of the energy drinks on sale and found that Bedroom Bully, Stacker 2, Mega Power and Fever beverages all had less than three percent alcohol content and could be sold in all stores.

But Zion, Baba Root and Magnum have more than three percent alcohol content and can no longer be sold in stores without a liquor licence.

Mr. Bascome said: "Effective immediately, all unlicensed premises must discontinue the sale of these products.

"From this point forward, ignorance will not be an excuse for the sale of any product not listed but which has alcohol content more than the threshold. If any business owner is not sure about any product, they can bring a sample to the Ministry of Health and we will be glad to analyse it and then advise them on whether or not it can be sold from their premises."

Health stores Down to Earth and Rock On said they do not stock Zion, Baba Root or Magnum. And Phoenix Store, which has just been granted a liquor license at its flagship store, does not sell the beverages either.

Meanwhile the owner of the Caribbean Food Store, where Mr. Pearman was reported to have purchased his beverages, was not available for comment yesterday.