They claim to "give you wings," "unleash the beast" and propel you to attack life at "full throttle," but the bevy of energy drinks on the market could provide more than a turbo-charged rush.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University say some of the wildly popular beverages contain potentially harmful levels of caffeine - as much as 14 cans of Coca-Cola. In a review article appearing in this month's issue of the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, the researchers say the drinks should carry warning labels displaying their caffeine content and possible health risks, such as nervousness, anxiety, insomnia, rapid heartbeat and tremors.
Caffeinated energy drinks are marketed as supplements, not soft drinks, and are not required to list their caffeine content or comply with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's maximum caffeine content for soda and other beverages. In addition, they are actively marketed to teens and young adults, impressionable groups that may not be aware of the dangers, said Roland Griffiths, a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and one of the study's authors.
"I believe people should be informed about what they are taking and what the risk is," he said. "First and foremost, we need to label the amount of caffeine and label it prominently - not in fine print. At the very least, we should know how much caffeine is in the product, and we should have some indication of what the drug does."
The organization that represents the top-selling energy drinks said the products are not marketed to children but to young adults and argued that the researchers' study unfairly characterized all caffeinated energy beverages into one unfavorable depiction. These top-sellers, which include such brands as Red Bull and Monster Energy, account for 95 percent of energy drink sales, the group said.
"It's unfortunate that the authors of this article would attempt to lump all energy drinks together in a rhetorical attack when the facts of their review clearly distinguish the mainstream responsible players from novelty companies seeking attention and increased sales based solely on sensationalistic names and extreme caffeine content," Craig Stevens, a spokesman with the American Beverage Association, said in a statement.
