rockstar energy drinks: ShortFormBlog

20:31 • 6 months ago

Want to scare yourself out of drinking energy drinks for good? Click on this link, which features a PDF, released by the FDA, of "adverse events" experienced by people who had recently consumed an energy drink. It focuses on three different brands. It says "death" way too many times.

An agency spokeswoman, Shelly Burgess, said the agency had decided to release the records “in an effort to be transparent.” She added that the filing of a report did not show a product was at fault.

“If we find a relationship between consumption of the product and harm, F.D.A. will take appropriate action to reduce or eliminate the risk,” Ms. Burgess said.

Meanwhile, two Democratic senators, Richard Durbin of Illinois and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, sent a letter on Thursday to the F.D.A. commissioner, Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, seeking a meeting to discuss energy drinks.

Both lawmakers have pressed the agency to tighten regulations of energy drinks, but it has responded that it has not seen sufficient evidence to do so as yet.

“There has been alarming evidence that energy drinks pose a potential threat to the public’s health,” the two senators wrote.

It’s worth noting that many medical doctors believe that people can drink two energy drinks in a day — the equivalent of 400 milligrams of caffeine — safely, without consequences. Also, the FDA states clearly in the above PDF that “there is no certainty that a reported adverse event can be attributed to a particular product or ingredient.”