Energy drinks charged into the U.S. market in 1997 with Red Bull and its claim: "Improves performance ... increased concentration ... stimulates the metabolism."
At 66.7 milligrams of caffeine per 8.3-ounce can, that would be a mere blip in the bold new world of energy drinks. A cup of coffee, by contrast, has 107.5 milligrams.
Today, provocative handles like Cocaine (since changed to No Name, owing to a 2007 Food and Drug Administration ruling against naming a product after an illegal drug), Blow, Bawls, Monster, Rockstar, Pimp Juice, Dopamine, SoBe No Fear and Spike Shooter abound. Caffeine counts of 350 milligrams -- the equivalent of 10 cans of Coke -- are common. The slogans scream: "Feel the freak." "Get spiked!" "Party like a rockstar."
The $2-per-can drinks buzzed $4.7 billion in sales in 2007, up from $3.5 billion in 2006, according to market research firm ACNielsen. The drinks, with their high caffeine content, have caused concern among health professionals -- especially when kids consume them. Studies have linked excessive caffeine in children to elevated heart rates, hypertension, anxiety, headaches and interrupted sleep patterns.
Last month, four students at Falcon Cove Middle School in Weston, Fla., were taken to the emergency room of Memorial Hospital West/Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital with racing hearts and body sweats. They said they shared a can of Redline.
"We have been seeing lots of kids coming in with anxiety attacks -- it has gone up in the last year and a half," says Dr. Deanna Soloway, assistant medical director of the pediatric emergency room at Hollywood, Fla.'s Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital.
"One of the routine questions we ask them is about their intake of energy drinks. Many kids are using them. I believe there is some connection between the use of energy drinks and hypertension, elevated heart rate, jitters. We had to monitor these four kids for several hours and put them on hydration."
The Florida Poison Control Center at the University of Miami/Jackson reports that 39 people ages 2 to 20 had symptoms of caffeine overexposure between January 2007 and last month. The signs were serious enough that it led to the center's tracking of this data. Statewide, the number was 125 during this period.
"It's grown because of the popularity of these products," said Dr. Richard Weisman, the center's director.
