Last week, the parents of two young men who died earlier this year after ingesting caffeine powder met with Food and Drug Administration officials to deliver a citizen petition urging the agency to ban the sale of powdered caffeine. In a blog about the meeting, Michael Landa, director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and…
Three States Sue 5-Hour Energy Makers For ‘Deceptive’ Advertising
Oregon, Washington and Vermont have filed lawsuits against the makers of the energy drink 5-Hour Energy for making “deceptive” marketing claims. More states are expected to follow. 
The defendants in the cases are Living Essentials, which manufactures, markets, distributes, advertises and sells 5-Hour Energy, and Innovation Ventures, which developed the formula for the drink…
Increasing Consumption Boosts Concerns About Energy Drinks
Many consumers are aware of the safety concerns surrounding energy drinks combined with alcohol, but energy drinks in their own right are an increasing cause for concern. Dr. Stacy Fisher, a cardiologist who specializes in congenital heart disease and director of Complex Heart Disease on the faculty of the University Of Maryland School of Medicine,…
Energy Drink Makers Get ‘Guidance’ But No Investigation Into Deaths
A couple of years ago, after reports surfaced about deaths that might be attributable to popular energy drinks, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) demanded that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigate the potentially dangerous levels of caffeine that may be involved. Instead of an investigation, FDA is now sharing the agency’s “current thinking”…
CSPI Calls New 5-hour Energy Safety Video Misleading
The Washington, DC-based Center for Science in the Public Interest is asking consumers “not to believe” a new video posted online by 5-hour Energy, which has come under fire recently after reports of health issues possibly linked to the product. The company took to YouTube to defend the safety of its product, but CSPI is…
Five U.S. Consumers Drank Same Energy Drink Before Death, Records Show
Over the past eight years, five people have died shortly after drinking Monster brand energy drinks, according to government records. This fact was discovered by a Maryland mother who requested to see reports of adverse health effects linked to Monster products after her daughter died in late 2011 hours after consuming the company’s energy drinks.…
Brown Rice Syrup Puts Arsenic In Organic Foods
Brown rice syrup used in many organic foods as a substitute for the often-chastised high fructose corn sugar is causing problems of its own with high arsenic levels.
That means danger for those consuming such products as “organic” infant milk formula, cereal bars or high energy foods that contain the organic brown rice syrup (OBRS)…
Energy Drinks and Alcohol Still a Risky Mix
In the wake of regulatory threats against the makers of alcoholic energy drinks, some are calling for further scrutiny of nonalcoholic energy drinks promoted as mixers for alcohol.
Last year, after the Food and Drug Administration and Federal Trade Commission told the four biggest manufacturers of alcoholic energy drinks the caffeine in their beverages was …
Pediatricians Warn of Energy Drink Risks
Highly caffeinated beverages were in the spotlight again this week with the publication of a paper in the journal Pediatrics Monday that reviewed studies in the scientific literature, as well as government and media reports, about the contents and effects of so-called energy drinks.
The latest paper, “Health Effects of Energy Drinks on Children, Adolescents, …
Can Energy Drinks Be a Gateway to Addictions?
People who start drinking the soft drinks known as “energy” beverages early in life may be more prone to anxiety, depression, and addictive behavior later on, some research suggests.
Dr. Conrad Woolsey, an assistant professor of applied health and educational psychology at Oklahoma State University, has written several scholarly articles and lectured extensively on energy …