Cocaine Found in Red Bull in Hong Kong

by cyn.khoo | June 2, 2009 at 10:44 am

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Traces of cocaine have been found in cans of Red Bull energy drink by officials in Hong Kong, in a case similar to recent revelations of cocaine found in Red Bull in Germany.

The Centre for Food Safety found traces of cocaine between 0.1 and 0.3 micrograms of the illegal drug per litre, the statement said.

Contaminated drinks were found in product lines "Red Bull Cola", "Red Bull Sugar-free", and "Red Bull Energy Drink", though Red Bull denies the findings.

Red Bull's Asia Pacific marketing director, Daniel Beatty, said the firm strongly disputed the findings.

"It would have been absolutely impossible for the Hong Kong or any other authorities to have found traces of cocaine in Red Bull Energy Drink," he said in a statement.

This discovery comes days after nearly 18,000 cases of Austrian-imported Red Bull were confiscated in Taiwan. Red Bull will not be prosecuted, according to Hong Kong government officials.

[A]fter meeting Red Bull representatives Tuesday, the government issued a statement saying no prosecution was intended, because of "the absence of prior knowledge of the cocaine content in the product.

"However, should they continue to deal in any products containing dangerous drugs in future, they might be liable to prosecution," the statement said.