Energy Drinks Have Doctors Worried—But Business Is Booming

The Brief with soda and coffee, says Amelia Arria, MORE ‘NATURAL’ HIGHS? Energy drinks have director of the University of Maryland Many energy drinks contain School of Public Health’s Center for ingredients other than doctors worried—but caffeine that may perk you Young Adult Health and Development. up. Here are some other business is booming Indeed, energy drinks have been linked things that may be adding to to more hospital visits than coffee or the buzz. By Alexandra Sifferlin soda, says Arria. “Why it’s different, we still need to know. Scientists and clini- GINSENG This ancient root is a Heather Chace, a biology teacher at Stroud cians have real concerns.” stimulant. The National High School in Oklahoma, says she first started noticing Institutes of Health (NIH) her students occasionally drinking energy drinks about In the U.S., when spinach gets contam- caution that caffeine and six years ago. Now she sees them chugging them on a daily inated with salmonella or ice cream car- panax ginseng should not basis—leading to conversations about their “hearts racing” ries listeria, manufacturers yank them be taken in combination, saying this “might cause and their “feeling shaky,” she says. from supermarket shelves and shoppers serious problems, including They’re not alone. About 50% of adolescents consume are alerted. But when an energy drink is increased heart rate and high energy drinks, according to a recent report in Pediatrics, and blamed for sending someone to the hos- blood pressure.” 31% do so on a regular basis, increasingly opting for energy pital, the regulatory and public-health GUARANA drinks over soda. It’s no surprise, given that a March 2015 re- aftermath is murky. This plant naturally contains port in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior showed That’s in part because of the way en- large amounts of caffeine, that over 46% of energy-drink ads on TV aired on channels that ergy drinks are regulated. Companies so its presence in an energy appeal to adolescents, like MTV, Fuse and BET, helping put can market a product as a dietary sup- drink increases the drink’s the U.S. energy-drink business on track to grow more than 11% plement or as a food, neither of which total caffeine content, by 2019, to an estimated $26.6 billion in annual revenue. But requires premarket safety approval according to the NIH. as the industry booms, so does concern about whether energy by the FDA. TAURINE drinks are safe for kids and teenagers. Another challenge is that it’s hard for The amino acid that supports The Center for Science in the Public Interest has called public-health experts to prove defini- brain development occurs on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to add safety tively that energy drinks are safe—or naturally in the body and is generally thought to be warnings on energy-drink unsafe—for everyone who drinks them. safe in the amounts used in bottles. Senators Edward ‘We just don’t It would be considered unethical to de- supplements and drinks. In Markey, Dick Durbin and see the same sign a study in which scientists wait to large amounts, however, it Richard Blumenthal have see if people have dangerous reactions may increase heart rate and safety concerns cause nervousness. called for a ban on mar- with coffee. With to a product. Energy drinks are also keting to minors. And the hard to study because their ingredient American Academy of Pedi- energy drinks, blends are often proprietary, so scien- atrics went so far as to say scientists and tists don’t know exactly how much of a energy drinks have “no place clinicians have given ingredient is in the can or bottle. in the diet of children and real concerns.’ The FDA does collect consumer adolescents.” Their reason- AMELIA ARRIA, health complaints: supplement com- ing: unlike coffee and soda, University of Maryland panies are required by law to file such many energy drinks con- reports, whereas beverage makers are tain two or more stimulants, including the natural-sounding asked to do so voluntarily. But when supplements guarana and ginseng. How all these ingredients those reports are filed with the FDA, work together is unknown, but many experts say it appears they are not automatically made avail- to be a risky mix. able to consumers or even scientists. A 2010 study, for example, found that sugar-free energy TIME learned through a Freedom “In the absence of a therapeutic ben- companies told TIME they do not mar- teens will be resolved anytime soon. For drinks affected the heart in a way that scientists think in- of Information Act request that from efit [from energy drinks], the only ac- ket their products to kids. now, the FDA says it will continue look- creases the risk of adverse heart events in susceptible people. January 2012 to November 2014, the ceptable number of adverse events is But some critics aren’t buying it. ing into the safety of caffeine in food Other research says the drinks make it harder for kids to pay FDA received 224 adverse-event reports zero,” says Dr. Steven Lipshultz, pedia- For instance, Monster hosts a social- products, including energy drinks. “As attention in school; scientists recently found that middle from energy-drink companies, includ- trician in chief at Children’s Hospital of networking site called the Monster part of our review,” agency spokesper- schoolers who consume sugary energy drinks are 66% likelier ing 5-Hour Energy, Full Throttle, Jolt Michigan. “We are not at zero.” Army, where kids as young as 13 post son Theresa Eisenman says, “we are to display symptoms of hyperactivity than those who don’t. Energy Drink, Monster Energy, Nos, The American Beverage Association, photos of themselves doing things like considering the current state of the sci- And a handful of lawsuits are under way alleging that popular Red Bull, Rockstar, AMP Energy and a trade group that represents energy- skateboarding in Monster gear. “A web- ence for potential health effects ... with brands such as Monster and Red Bull have been responsible Venom Energy. Six of them reported drink companies, says many of these site that says ‘Join my club’ is not geared an emphasis on specific populations, for the deaths of minors. In some cases, the people who died that a death had occurred. (Because products bear voluntary warnings that to adults,” says Dr. Marcie Schneider, such as pregnant women or children.” had an underlying heart condition. of the nature of the reports, no more they’re not recommended for children, co-author of the AAP statement on In the meantime, Oklahoma teacher Energy-drink companies say their products are safe and information is available about those pregnant or nursing women or peo- energy drinks. Chace says she advises students to be contain no more caffeine than a cup of coffee. But experts are cases, including how many of them ple sensitive to caffeine. Representa- It’s unlikely that the question of careful—and doesn’t allow any drinks seeing problems with energy drinks that they just don’t see involved minors.) ANDREW B. MYERS FOR TIME tives from Red Bull, Monster and other energy drinks’ safety for children and besides water in her classroom. 22 Time July 6–13, 2015 23.

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