On January 18th of this year, Monster Beverage Corporation issued a press release challenging a recent report from the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN). What did this beverage manufacturer, which reported revenues in excess of $1.7 billion in 2011 alone, have to worry about in a bulletin from DAWN? At issue was DAWN’s effort to warn the American public about the potential dangers of the category of energy drinks, of which Monster claims a large portion of the market share.
Eight days earlier, on the 10th of January, DAWN had published a bulletin titled “Update on Emergency Department Visits Involving Energy Drinks: A Continuing Public Health Concern.” Among the highlights of the bulletin:
● Emergency room visits related to the consumption of energy drinks more than doubled from 10,068 in 2007 to 20,783 in 2011
● The number of visits for patients aged 40 years or older increased by 279 percent over the same period
● Of all the emergency room visits related to energy drinks, 42 percent involved cases where the individual had been mixing the drinks with alcohol or drugs, while the remaining 58 percent were people who had only been consuming energy drinks
The DAWN bulletin is only the most recent public relations fiasco for the energy drink industry. In October of last year, the parents of a 14 year old girl sued Monster Beverage Corporation over the girl’s death the previous year. Her death was attributed to “cardiac arrhythmia due to caffeine toxicity,” and the parents alleged that her consumption of two cans of Monster was the cause of her death. Further, it has been reported that the Food and Drug Administration received five reports of other deaths associated with Monster Energy over the years between 2004 and 2012.
It has not yet been conclusively demonstrated that Monster or any other energy drink such as Red Bull or AMP causes health complications or death, but increasing attention is being paid to the question of their safety by the FDA and other interested parties.
About Energy Drinks
The term energy drink refers to a category of beverages which are marketed as being able to improve stamina and alertness, as well as greater levels of energy, weight loss and better mental performance. They typically include a blend of vitamins and minerals, but their primary source of “energy” is caffeine. Caffeine, whether it is consumed in energy drinks, coffee, tea or otherwise, does not actually provide the body with a source of energy. Instead, it acts by blocking a certain type of receptor in the brain which normally causes the body to experience the sensation of fatigue.
The drug is actually a naturally occurring pesticide, which some plants have evolved as a way to kill insects which would normally feed on them. The average American adult consumes 200 mg of caffeine on a daily basis, but a single 8 ounce can of Red Bull contains 80 mg, while there are 160 mg of caffeine in a 16 ounce can of Monster. Given that many teens and young adults will consume multiple drinks in a short period of time at parties, it is clear that they may easily be pouring several hundreds milligrams into their bodies at once.
To make matters worse, energy drinks are often mixed with hard alcohol to make beverages such as the popular Red Bull and Vodka. The caffeine offsets the drowsiness which normally sets in when drinking alcohol, allowing the individual to keep drinking far longer than he or she normally would. This greatly increases the risk of alcohol poisoning, as well as the other health and safety risks associated with drunkenness. Monster Beverage Corporation and other companies may have a great deal to lose in light of the DAWN bulletin and other warnings, but they should be so anxious to protect their profits that they jeopardize the public safety by attempting to hide or refute evidence that their products are potentially dangerous.
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Source: http://foodpoisoningbulletin.com/2013/drug-abuse-warning-network-warns-about-energy-drinks/
