Caffeine hits energy drinks
Nidhi Jamwal
Maharashtra food regulators seize consignments
Energy drinks sold in restaurants and grocery stores have caught the eye of food
regulators in Maharashtra. In the first week of April, they seized large quantities of
beverages sold under brands like Red Bull, Cloud 9, Fighter and SoBe Adrenaline Rush
from godowns in Pune and Mumbai. Officials of the Food and Drug Administration
found that the caffeine content mentioned on the labels was beyond permissible limits.
“According to preliminary reports, caffeine content in the energy drinks is much higher
than the permissible limit of 200 parts per million (ppm),” said Suhas D Chaudhary, fda’s
joint commissioner in charge of Greater Mumbai.
The limit for carbonated non-alcoholic beverages has been set under the Prevention of
Food Adulteration (pfa) Rules, 1955. In the case of Red Bull, the caffeine content in one
can is 300 ppm. The samples are being tested in the laboratory, Chaudhary said.
The test results are expected in mid-May and could lead to a ban on the sale of the drinks.
• What are energy drinks?
• Yet to be notified
Energy drinks have caffeine, sugar and herbal stimulants (see box: ‘What are energy
drinks?’); they are popular among young people for combating fatigue.
Beverage or proprietary food
Their popularity notwithstanding, there are no food standards governing energy drinks in
India.
The pfa Act dates back to 1954 and so does not prescribe norms for them. Manufacturers
use this loophole to challenge the categorization of the product as a carbonated drink.
“Energy drinks are non-alcoholic proprietary food. This is mentioned on the Red Bull’s
can. We are meeting all regulations for such food items like labelling and nutrition,” a
spokesperson of Red Bull India Pvt Ltd said. Other manufacturers refused to comment on
the guidelines they follow.
The pfa rules however do not specify standards and regulations for proprietary food
products except that their labels ought to display nutritional content of the product. The
pfa defines proprietary food products as those that have not been standardized. It means
these products can be marketed without adhering to any scientific standards, an official
said.
fda does not buy the claims made by the manufacturers of energy drinks being
proprietary food. It insists that energy drinks belong to the carbonated drinks category.
“Any beverage that contains carbon dioxide is a carbonated beverage and needs to follow
the caffeine limit prescribed by pfa rules,” the fda official said.
Proprietary food includes packaged food, supplements, probiotics and energy drinks.
There is no clarity on the category for these food products under pfa rules (see ‘The new
food chain’, Down to Earth, February 15, 2005).
The government did enact a comprehensive legislation—The Food Safety and Standards
Act—in 2006 (see box:‘Yet to be notified’) to plug this loophole. But it has not been
implemented. The Act aims to provide scientific standards for a range of products
including processed food, genetically modified food and proprietary food. It also
prescribes rules for manufacture, storage and distribution of such products. Deputy
Director of Food and Safety Standards Authority of India, Anil Mehta, said the Act is not
in force as the accompanying rules and regulations have not been framed. He said the Act
would be notified by end of the year and the pfa and other food legislations would be
repealed.
Safety not proved
Energy drinks are considered particularly harmful when mixed with alcohol as they
mask the effect of alcohol. Persons who drink the cocktail think they are sober and alert
even if they are inebriated.
Countries like Norway, Uruguay and Denmark have banned them (see box 'Statutory
warning'). France imposed a 12-year ban on Red Bull that was lifted in 2008 after the
government failed to prove its health risks.
A number of studies have questioned the safety of the beverage. A study by the
Cardiovascular Research Centre at Royal Adelaide Hospital in Denmark, found one can
of Red Bull is enough to raise the risk of heart attack or stroke. The study carried out on
university students found that drinking one 250 ml of the sugar-free version of the energy
drink, increased stickiness of blood which can lead to clotting.
Students are known to guzzle the drink to stay awake during examinations. A BSc final
year student of Mumbai University admitted she takes six to seven cans of energy drink
to keep awake. "I stock crates of Red Bull during exams," she said. Energy drinks are
also called clubber's drink as they are often mixed with alcohol, usually vodka.
The European Commission's scientific committee on food in 2003 said caffeine levels in
energy drinks are safe but more studies are needed to assess the risks posed by other
ingredients like taurine, an amino acid, and glucuronolactone. A 2006 study in the US on
10 energy drinks, however, found the caffeine content of these drinks too high. An early
study in 2000 by the French Scientific Committee too found Red Bull contained
excessive caffeine.
"There is no concrete scientific evidence on health effects of energy drinks but it is
known that high caffeine leads to health problems," said M S Kamath, a Mumbai-based
physician. In spite of growing number of studies that question their safety, energy drinks
are doing brisk business in all countries including India where its market is pegged at Rs
100 crore.
With inputs from Rajil Menon