Try downing a 12-ounce alcoholic drink — without knowing if it’s beer or scotch.
“They have very different effects,” said Roland Griffiths, a professor in the departments of psychiatry and neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Consumers take these risks, Griffiths said, when gulping one of the many caffeinated energy drinks on the market. Caffeine amounts range from 50 milligrams to 500 mg — more than 14 times the amount in a Coca-Cola — but the labels aren’t always clear, he said.
Griffiths and other Hopkins researchers call for prominent labels noting caffeine doses and warning of potential harmful effects in an article appearing this month in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
Since the popular energy drink Red Bull hit U.S. stores more than a decade ago, hundreds of brands of energy drinks have emerged into a $5.4 billion-a-year market, Griffiths said.
The ingredients vary, but most contain caffeine, as well as ingredients like taurine, B vitamins and other herbal additives, such as ginseng or mah juang.
In high doses, caffeine can cause increased heart rate, agitation, restlessness, insomnia, dizziness or even hallucinations, said Dr. Richard Colgan, associate professor of family and community medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
More concerning are the effects of mixing caffeine and other stimulants, such as pseudoephedrine and herbal supplements, he said.
The Food and Drug Administration does not limit the amount of caffeine a manufacturer can put in drinks, and foods labeled as dietary supplements aren’t regulated.
The FDA advises that 0.02 percent caffeine content is “generally recognized as safe for cola-type beverages when used in accordance with good manufacturing practices,” FDA spokeswoman Stephanie Kwisnek said.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest petitioned the FDA in 1998 for caffeine dose label requirements, but the FDA has not done so, said David Schardt, the center’s senior nutritionist.
“My guess is they don’t see a clear health problem consuming a lot of caffeine and they have their plate full with other things,” he said.
Michael Gimbel, director of Powered By ME, an anti-steroid campaign at St. Joseph Medical Center, said the Johns Hopkins study supports a position he and other advocates have had for years.
Warning labels “are a beginning,” to raise awareness of these drinks and encourage parents and consumers to consider the possible adverse effects, he said.
The American Beverage Association, however, blasted the report, saying researchers lumped all energy drinks together, when “the facts of their review clearly distinguishes between the mainstream responsible players from novelty companies seeking attention,” the industry groups said in a statement.
The caffeine doses in mainstream drinks are “moderate,” the association said, and typically contain half the amount of caffeine found in coffee sold at national chains.
“Quite simply,” the association said, “energy drinks can be part of a balanced lifestyle when consumed sensibly.”
Energized drinks
Energy drink Ounces per Total Caffeine per
can/bottle caffeine (mg) ounce (mg)
Red Bull 8.3 80 9.64
Monster 16 160 10
Amp 8.4 75 8.93
Full Throttle 16 144 9
WiredX505 24 505 21.04
Other Drinks
Coca-Cola 12 34.5 2.88
Pepsi 12 38 3.17
Source: Roland Griffiths, Johns Hopkins
- 16-ounce soft drink: 60 mg caffeine
- Mainstream energy drink: 160 mg
- 16-ounce cup coffee: 320 mg
Source: American Beverage Association
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