Energy Drinks Should Carry Caffeine Warnings

by Terri Potratz | September 24, 2008 at 12:09 pm

2281 views | 11 Recommendations | 27 comments

Doctors recommend that energy drinks should carry health warnings against the dangers of caffeine overdose after research found that the performance enhancing beverages can contain more caffeine than 7 cups of strong coffee.

Energy drinks have become popular within the past few years to increase alertness, especially within youth involved in extreme sports. Roland Griffiths, from Maryland's John Hopkins University School of Medicine, carried out the survey of 28 energy drinks to determine how much caffeine was present.

Writing in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Griffiths calls for energy drinks to carry the same warnings as caffeine pills, pointing out risks such as anxiety attacks, rapid heartbeats and nausea.

Here are the caffeine levels found within popular energy drink cans:

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

Compare to other popular caffeinated beverages:

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

Companies who make and market energy drinks are responding that if they have to provide caffeine levels, so too should coffee houses.

Energy drinks can become increasingly problematic when mixed with alcohol, as drivers could feel awake enough to drive even while drunk.

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Milieunet

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 21:04 on September 24th, 2008

Terri Potratz, I like this story. It's good stuff.

It should be better to forbid those energy drinks. Specially for young children till highschool age.

Jen Salik (not verified)

at 02:16 on September 25th, 2008

you can't lock everything away that might be dangerous for your children - teach them WHAT's dangerous and WHY...

that's a bit of true american thinking. it might be dangerous, forbid it. put a warning label an everything you could use wrong out of own stupidity. - how about a bit of common sense and a bit of teaching the young instead of playing dumbo and charging others for your own stupidity.

in fact - i might easily poison myself with mocca or really strong black tea (i know what i'm talking about O.O ) - should that be forbidden too? - and what about chocolate? it's addictive too, may lead to overweight which may end up in a serious heart disease....

preserve your own right to choose.

lrnelson807

at 21:22 on September 24th, 2008

This is a photo of a crunched red bull can just outside Andrews Hall on the UNL Campus.

lrnelson807 has contributed a photo to this story.

dissonance

at 21:57 on September 24th, 2008

If you look closely, you can see my friend's lipstick on the can.

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JeremyyyC

at 22:01 on September 24th, 2008

a redbull can at my high school

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stevieflash

at 23:11 on September 24th, 2008

i love to drink red bull..
its kind of refreshing..sometimes too sweet but it rocks :)

nevertheless... the new "red bull - simply cola" tastes like "top star cola" you can buy at aldi... ;)

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SOLARLIFE

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 23:17 on September 24th, 2008

Terri Potratz, I like this story. It's good stuff.

rpiereck

at 01:04 on September 25th, 2008

A shot of American soft drink and energy drink empty cans in a bar outside Camp Humphreys US Army base, in South Korea. US soldiers survive on energy drinks.

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rpiereck

at 01:05 on September 25th, 2008

Amitjha

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 01:12 on September 25th, 2008

Terri Potratz, I like this story. It's good stuff.

urbanwoodswalker

at 04:55 on September 25th, 2008

Red Bull is mild. I had an AMP one day, and drank the whole thing while at the computer. I didn't realize I should have drank only half the can. The effects a little while later had me thinking of going to the emergency room. Seriously....all the energy drinks are on the same shelves at the stores....I am going to watch for the caffiene loads from now on.

domat33f

at 06:10 on September 25th, 2008

Shot in a Norwegian supermarket. The brand looks and feels rather cheesy to me, but I appreciated its directness nevertheless

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ActivityGrrrl

at 07:25 on September 25th, 2008

I'm actually more concerned with the sugar content and the lack of 'light' versions of the coffee-related energy drinks.

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DanHeron33

at 07:29 on September 25th, 2008

I used to drink red bull a lot, recently decided to drink less of it though. Anything in moderation is ok.

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tka group

at 07:57 on September 25th, 2008

At least there's no glycol in it...

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Terri Potratz

at 08:19 on September 25th, 2008

Salk - good call, making responsible decisions is up to the individual. The issue with energy drinks right now is that you can't make an educated decision because the label doesn't provide the necessary information, ie. how many mg of caffeine are present in the drink. You have the right to choose, absolutely - but if you don't have the info on the label for comparison you're not in a very good spot.

.sanden.

at 09:58 on September 25th, 2008

Energy drinks (previously known as coffee) have grown to a freakily large scale over the past 5 years. As a teenager I worked graveyard shift and grew accustomed to drinking coffee to help me through the night. Coffee wasn’t the best flavored beverage but it worked. Now fast forward 20 years later and you are surrounded by “coffee”. Beverages are packed full of sugar, caffeine, green tea, etc.!! They are packaged in a way to attract all ages; as an adult we know when to say “when”. However; if I had access to these drinks as an adolescent I would be “wired” to the ceiling. These drinks won’t kill you but in large quantities they can cause a lot of health problems. Case in point a very good friend of mine drank about 2 a day for months; he was later diagnosed with kidney stones. The doctor contributed his condition directly to the energy drinks.

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shadowbecomeswhite

at 10:59 on September 25th, 2008

I don't do energy drinks but I totally back the research and claim of publishing caffeine levels.

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greyloch

at 13:22 on September 25th, 2008

Energy drinks should list the exact caffeine content, not this "proprietary blend" nonsense they put on the back of the cans. What is up with that? Are they afraid that someone's going to figure out what exactly they've put into their drinks? o_O??

BTW, Rockstar as a Carb-Free variety (which I love) that has 120 milligrams of caffeine per serving. So one of these cans has 240 milligrams instead of the normal 160. The maximum caffeine dosage the normal human body can absorb at one time is 300 milligrams. Anything more than 300 milligrams our bodies just don't process it and elimiate it.

Beaulieu

at 14:04 on September 25th, 2008

My doctor warned me that caffeine was really affecting my body and.. I still drink it.. this article reminds me I really ought to cut down. I only drank Red Bull a few times and started to 'get the taste for it' but will try and keep clear now. I tend to drink decaf though and prefer it.

Anyone know if Lucocade Sports has tons of caffeine in it? I used to have tons of that stuff on my long distance cycle rides.. and it got me through but maybe there are alternatives?

reesman9

at 17:45 on September 25th, 2008

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Chiyo

at 20:03 on September 25th, 2008

This is interesting. There should be some warnings about the product listed on the can, like many alcoholic beverages. Never really thought about it though.

thehaymans

at 04:00 on September 26th, 2008

RedBull protomotional cars in Dublin.

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Rock Alien

at 09:25 on September 26th, 2008

I have tasted RedBull and I think it is revolting, so no danger to me. But I agree that people should be made aware of potential risks and then left to make their own decisions.

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