Blog 9: Safety Becomes a Concern With High-Caffeine Drinks

Mio Energy, a new energy drink by Kraft Foods, contains 60 mg of caffeine in every half-teaspoon serving, or for every two grams. One bottle contains 18 servings, which equals 1,060 mg of caffeine: 2.65 times the recommended limit by U.S. medical specialists. Canada, Mexico, France, and India are considering implementation of a tax on such heavily caffeinated drinks, yet the United States Food and Drug Administration has a laissez-faire attitude toward caffeine levels despite their having risen by 16 percent last year to $8.9 billion. Producers of energy drinks in the United States have the ability to market those drinks as beverages or dietary supplements, and can mask the type of caffeine(synthetic, guarana, tea extract, etc.) on ingredient lists by labeling it under "energy blend." There have been five deaths since 2009 linked to consumption of Monster Energy, and 12,000 emergency room visits.

This drastic increase in energy drink complications casts a spotlight on the role of caffeine in the American diet. It in itself is a stimulant drug, and while a cup of coffee isn't as potent as many other drugs are known to be, adverse health effects are nevertheless eventually inevitable. This is shown by the 12,0000 emergency room visits and five deaths, all of which likely could have been prevented had the United States imposed stricter regulation of caffeine in energy drinks like the other countries aforementioned. The freedom of energy drink producers to label them as beverages or dietary supplements and to mask the type of caffeine included in them is not without the expense of the consumer, both financially and physically. There is also the possibility of a caffeine addiction, and those dependent on caffeine will not benefit from Mio Energy or any other similar drink, even if it was labeled as a dietary supplement. Ingredients in caffeinated drinks, such as guarana, are imported from other countries that may need to investigate America's motives for buying their ingredients, since the effects can be wide-ranging and the product overmarketed. Much money is spent both on hospitalizations and the products causing them, resulting from the misrepresentation of caffeine as a nutrient.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/business/safety-becomes-a-concern-with-energy-drinks.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all