Updated: Wed Sep. 24 2008 3:41:51 PM

CTV.ca News Staff

Energy drinks that promise a short-term boost to energy levels and alertness can contain as much caffeine as 14 cans of pop, which can potentially lead to dangerous health problems such as rapid heart beats, tremors and insomnia, researchers say.

Energy drinks are especially popular with young people needing a pre-exam pick-me-up or a surge of energy before a sports competition.

But they need warning labels that indicate the exact amounts of caffeine and warnings of the potential health effects, researchers who study the drinks say.

In an article published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Roland Griffiths and a team of scientists from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore say that energy drinks contain between 50 and more than 500 milligrams of caffeine.

"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 unlabelled and few include warnings about the potential health risks of caffeine intoxication," Griffiths said in a statement.

The researchers tested 28 energy drinks with varying results. While a can of Coke contained 34 grams of caffeine, a small can of Red Bull contained more than double that, they said.

Other products contained six to 14 times the amount of caffeine in a single can.

Griffiths and his team warn that consuming high doses of caffeine can lead to caffeine intoxication, which causes symptoms such as nervousness, anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, gastrointestinal problems, tremors, rapid heartbeats, restlessness and, in some rare cases, death.

Caffeine intoxication is a clinical syndrome that is included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases.

Most consumers don't know how much caffeine they are getting in energy drinks, which are marketed as safe beverages that provide a short-term boost to energy levels, the authors said.

"It's like drinking a serving of an alcoholic beverage and not knowing if it's beer or scotch," Griffiths said.

In the United States, soft drinks can only contain a maximum of 71 milligrams of caffeine per 12-ounce can, according to guidelines set out by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A cup of brewed coffee contains about 80 to 150 milligrams of caffeine.

However energy drinks, such as Red Bull and SoBe, are marketed as dietary supplements and so are exempt from this cap.

In Canada, energy drinks are sold as natural health products. They are regulated by Health Canada, which does not require that caffeine be included on a label as a separate ingredient.

The energy drink industry representative in Canada says its "members' drinks are formulated to meet all Health Canada regulatory requirements," a statement from Refreshments Canada to CTV News said.

"Our members' energy drinks are appropriately labelled with the recommended dose per day and the label specifies the product is for 'adults.'"

The drinks include warnings that the products are not recommended for children and the companies do not advertise energy drinks in any media directed at kids, the group said.

Energy drink industry growing

The new recommendations come at a time when the North American energy drink market is rapidly expanding.

Sales of energy drinks in Canada jumped 54 per cent to $277 million in the year ending this August, according to data from AC Nielsen.

In the previous year, sales jumped 71 per cent.

Annual sales of energy drinks in the United States are an estimated $5.4 billion.

A 2007 survey of almost 500 U.S. college students found that more than half of them consumed at least one energy drink per month.

Of those who consumed the drinks, 29 per cent said they experienced so-called "jolt and crash" episodes on a weekly basis, while 19 per cent said energy drinks gave them heart palpitations.

As well, many young people mix energy drinks with alcohol at bars and nightclubs, which can "give users a false sense of alertness that provides incentive to drive a car or in other ways put themselves in danger," Griffiths said.

These potential health concerns have sparked a backlash against the beverages north of the border. One school board in Prince Edward Island has voted to ban the sale of energy drinks to children.

And prominent doctors on the Island are compiling data on the potential health ramifications of consuming energy drinks. They plan to then issue recommendations that will include a minimum age at which it's safe to consume the beverages.

Current Health Canada guidelines warn that energy drinks can lead to dehydration and caution against drinking them in excess or consuming them with alcohol.

Health Canada also recommends that children age 12 and under should consume no more than 2.5 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body weight.

Based on average body weights, daily caffeine limits should be:

• 45 mg for children between the ages of four and six.
• 62.5 mg for children between the ages of seven and nine.
• 85 mg for children between the ages of 10 and 12.

These limits are equivalent to about one to two 355 ml cans of cola per day.

Comments are now closed for this story

Nanook
Ever tried some candy? The bitterness, sourness, etc, is wicked! Everything kids have today is maxed out, from chips to pop. No wonder they can't sit still in school for 5 minutes. ADHD??? Ha ha. (But for some strange reason can sit still in front of an X-Box for 6 straight hours!)

Brad
Wow!! All you have to do to see the increase in demand is go into a hockey dressing room after a 'AAA' hockey game. All of the players are getting hopped up on this stuff to improve their performance. It is little wonder why they can not function during school the next day. You wonder how long it will be before one of them drinks a beverage, and then pushes himself too hard causes the unthinkable to happen!

Tricia
It is also a favourite drink of those "in recovery" from drug abuse, esp teens...they should be banned by all drug and alcohol treatment houses/centres who allow their clients to to out on their own; it's an artificial high that is not "real" recovery.

Adam
So if one can contains so much, why do people get so mad when i drink 3 cups of coffee and say im a addict, when they pop one of these every day

Danger Drink
It`s crazy that they don`t have an age restriction on this yet, unfortunely it always takes one a poor soul, ever sadder a child in this case, to fall seriously ill or die to recognize that this is a big problem and ban sales under a certain age...why does it always have to come to that

James
And we are getting strict on selling tobacco to young children, should look at this stuff also on selling to young people

Jay, Ottawa
This article is a bit misleading, as the energy drinks vary greatly. I recall reading before that a small can of Red Bull had less caffeine than one cup of coffee. I think some of the other energy drinks, in larger cans have a lot more caffeine though... You really need to find a table comparing the caffein content of different energy drinks (taking the size of the can into account).

Melissa
I've never had one, as I've always been worried about the health downfalls as a result - guess I was right.

We're humans, and human's are meant to be tired. There are TONS of natural pick me ups to take that don't involve killing yourself. Eating healthier and exercise are just one of lifes natural pick me ups. Follow that and in two weeks you'll have a lot more energy and feel better about yourself.

Zhimmy
All this stuff is the "health pills" of the 80s that was really just "speed". I can't believe they still get away with it!

RR in Kingston
Clearly kids intake of these energy drinks need to be restricted. As usual, proper diet and exercise should be stressed. If that is followed there is no need for energy "fixes". However, adults must look to the examples they set for there children.

Just so everyone is clear, there is no link between ADHD and caffeine or sugar.

Suggesting any link suggests a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of ADHD.

Steve in Aylmer
So what`s the over and under on the number of days it will take before one of the political parties brings this study up and makes it an issue in the upcoming election. I`d say the number is 7-days.

My sense is most Canadians would like to see safety measures be brought in to control the issues brought up in the study.

Kevin(BrockU)
We talked about this in my marketing class yesterday. Red Bull has 80mg of the stuff while a Grande coffee from Starbucks has ~240mg (according to the newspaper article). The Red Bull can says do not consume more than 2 per day as needed. Do the math... Also, its not the so much the caffeine that people should worry about, its the Taurine. Countries ban energy drinks because of it.

Andre in NB
It's funny how the slant of the article is on how bad energy drinks are, and while it mentions that a drink may have 'from 50 to 500mg' in a serving, it fails to mention that the 'typical' drink (which is like 90% if you ever look into it and read labels) are about 150 mg per 16 ounce can. This is not far off from "large double double" at your local tim horton's or similar, yet no one really says much about the people that drink 2-3 cups of coffee in a day, yet a person drinks one energy drink, and suddenly they're equating this to a drug. I've seen people 'hooked' on coffee and it's not pretty but we seem to brush that off as a normal thing..

The article mentions that 50% of the students drink one energy drink per Month or more, yet how many are drinking a cup of coffee per day? or even 2? Lets thing about that before pointing fingers...

Rick in AB
I agree completely with Nanook. My 3 kids have started on coffee and that sort of thing but I have forbidden them from Energy drinks.

Is it any wonder that the kids of today go to excess on things .... violence, weight, gaming for hours etc. With the way companies Super Size the doses of everything, including sugar, caffeine, and violence in games and TV, it's no wonder we are losing control of a larger proportion of them. Parents have a responsibility to teach their children the pitfalls of society and how this hidden cancer is dangerous to their welfare and designed for profits only.

We need stricter controls on this 'Drug' called caffeine.

Ryder
The media has also neglected to mention the all-natural energy drinks that DO NOT contain caffine. There are many brands that have natural substitutes for caffine. The caffine ones cause the body to crash once it is done absorbing the caffine; however, the all natural drinks do not cause the body to crash and have yet to be proven as a negative.

Holly T
Ya know its crazy. Its not even just the caffiene that is in these drinks that is dangerous. Its the caffiene related products that have the same effect as caffine. Redbull only has a small amount of caffine but the other medical and non medical ingredients raises the amount and effect of the caffine. They dont have to tell you because an herbal supplement in the beverage is not actually caffiene.
People should really look into what they are drinking and allowing their kids to drink.

Deidre
Some of the most popular energy drinks have no more caffeine per serving than a regular cup of coffee....
I think what people should be concern about is the fact that we would not feed a young child a cup of coffee, but some would certainly allow that same child to drink an energy drink.

Matthew B.
I'm holding a can of Red Bull in front of me right now, generally because I drink at least one every day. It contains 80mg of caffeine (250ml can), which according to this article would make it safe for even a 10-12 year old to consume. However everyone is different, and caffeine affects different people in different ways. PARENTS need to be alert to what their kids are buying/consuming and impose restrictions if necessary. I believe the sale of energy drinks should be banned in schools as kids are there all day without parental supervision and can't be expected to make the best decisions regarding their health. I don't believe the sale of these drinks needs to be restricted to the general public, parents just need to be more active and engaged in what their kids are doing. And actually reading labels to see what all your kids are ingesting isn't a bad idea either. Some energy drinks are much worse than others and it pays to read labels. As far as they go Red Bull is actually one of the better ones. One can contains no more caffeine than a cup of coffee, its the only one I will drink because I've read the labels of some of the others, and there are drinks out there with 250+ milligrams of caffeine in a single can! That is a little outrageous, and parents need to pay attention!

mark
Note to science reporters: some energy drinks having AS MUCH caffeine as 14 colas does not equal ALL energy drinks have as much caffeine as 14 colas. In fact, most only contain as much as a single cup of coffee, or about 80 mg. The title for this article is misleading; can we have some accuracy in 'scientific' journalism, instead of scaremongering and sensationalism?

Tori
More proof that energy drinks are as addictive as drugs.

Get them off the shelves, put them behind the counter.

No one under the age of majority should be able to purchase or use this drug.

Coaches and parents that allow it should be thinking twice. They are killing their kids from the inside out, all in the name of sports.

ihadsome
With all the enery these producst provide, you'de think those consuming them could find the energy to put the empties in the garbage. You can find the empties lying around all over the place.

buzzed
WHAAAAATTTTT??????? EQUAL TO 14 POPSSSSSSS!!!!!!! NNNOOOOOOO W@AYYYYY!!!!! WOOOHOOOOOOO!

Nathan
I am sick and tired of hearing false truth. It's time the media stops using scare tactics on this sort of thing and starts telling the facts. If there is an energy drink out there with 500mg of caffeine why don't you tell us the reader what it is, considering that is the one that all of these out of proportioned comparisons are up against.

No matter how the news wants to read the facts, this is the simple fact:
-per 12oz of energy drink there is roughly 80mg of caffeine.
-per 8oz of brewed coffee there is 80-135mg.

On the same sized 8oz of energy drink the comparison would be 50mg in energy drinks and 80-135mg in coffee.

It is completely biased to use volume to trick the public into thinking that these are bad especially when people go back and forth to the coffee pot all day themselves.

jmrSudbury
It should not be a store's job to enforce a ban. It is the parents' responsibility. I agree with Mark that the media should be more responsible in its reporting in general, but people have to pick up on key phrases like "can contain." The media's job worked. They got us all to read the article. What we do with it is important as well. -- John M Reynolds

Dixie from Alberta
Glad I don't drink these...keep them away from kids.

Ken - Vancouver
...I drink Rockstar Sugar Free often. I've looked at the labels of many energy drinks looking for other low calorie varieties.

All energy drinks I've seen around Vancouver clearly list the amount of caffeine in them. None that I've seen have as much as this article pretends is common.

I drink them in a reasonable manner, I don't get the crazy extreme symptoms they want to scare you with.

Why didn't they investigate all the totally untested 'natural health' ingredients that we know nothing at all about that are in all these drinks? The high vitamin doses? The Taurine?

... Why not scare Canadians in a useful way, especially the ones that swear by these other ingredients regardless of a total lack of scientific evidence?

Ian in Guelph
We've made it illegal for kids to get nicotine and alcohol (though some can still get their hands on them). We should at least make it -difficult- for kids to obtain enough caffeine to get intoxicated.

We always used to say that "youth are our greatest resource." If that's the case then why are we treating them like research animals studying the effects of prolonged exposure to harmful and addictive substances? It's ludicrous, and highly disappointing.

Put some crack cocaine in a drink - betcha the kids would drink that, too.