Warning on Caffeinated Energy Drinks

Filed in archive Consumer Alert , Diet , Information About , News on September 25, 2008

© revjim5000

Energy drinks are caffeinated, we should know this fact by now. Energy drinks also pose as sports drinks - i will say it again - are caffeinated - much more caffeine there is in soda drinks.

According to caffeine experts at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, caffeinated energy drinks now on the market should carry prominent labels that note caffeine doses and warn of potential health risks for consumers.

Said Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., one of the authors of the article that appears in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence (pdf) this month:

"The caffeine content of energy drinks varies over a 10-fold range, with some containing the equivalent of 14 cans of Coca-Cola, yet the caffeine amounts are often unlabeled and few include warnings about the potential health risks of caffeine intoxication."

Yes, caffeine can also be intoxicating. Keep that in mind.

WebMD has an interesting breakdown of the caffeine contents of popular energy drinks compared to coffee, soda drinks and other low-caffeine containing drinks, which i would like to copy here:

• Red Bull: 80 milligrams per 8.3-ounce serving


• Tab Energy: 95 mg per 10.5-oz serving


• Monster and Rockstar: 160 mg per 16-oz serving


• No Fear: 174 mg per 16-oz serving


• Fixx: 500 per 20-oz serving


• Wired X505: 505 mg per 24-oz serving

• Brewed coffee: 200 milligrams per 12-oz serving


• Instant coffee: 140 mg per 12-oz serving


• Brewed tea: 80 mg per 12-oz serving


• Mountain Dew: 54 mg per 12 oz. serving


• Dr. Pepper: 41 mg per 12-oz serving


• Pepsi Cola: 38 mg per 12-oz serving


• Coca-Cola Classic: 34.5 mg per 12-oz serving


• Canned or bottled tea: 20 mg per 12-oz serving

• Bomba Energy has 75 mg per 8.4-oz serving


• Whoop Ass has 50 mg per 8.5-oz serving

Take note of the serving size. I don't know, I'm not such a fan of energy drinks. Are you? If you are, you might wanna read the above carefully. Will the lack of sufficient labelling on such drinks lead to a number of clinical negligence claims made against the manufacturers in the not too distant future?