Call for national action after study raises ‘grave concerns’ over energy drinks

AAP
January 16, 201212:12AM

RESEARCHERS are calling for all energy drinks to carry warning labels after finding a big increase in caffeine toxicity among consumers of the drinks. The researchers from the University of Sydney and the NSW Poisons Information Centre say reports of adverse reactions to energy drinks increased from just 12 in 2004 to 65 in 2010. The median age of people who were reported to the centre, which handles calls from NSW, the ACT and Tasmania, was just 17. Some 57 per cent of people who were reported were male.

The symptoms which were most commonly reported were heart palpitations, agitation, tremors and gastrointestinal upset. At least 128 people needed emergency services to be called and of these 20 people showed signs of serious cardiac or neurological toxicity. Their symptoms included hallucinations, seizures and cardiac ischaemia, where the heart muscle receives insufficient blood flow.

The researchers say this is of “grave concern” to both the community and for clinicians. “Given the clear evidence of toxicity and the growing number of hospitalisations associated with consumption of energy drinks, particularly in a vulnerable adolescent population, health authorities should increase awareness of the problem, improve package labelling and regulate caffeine content,” the study’s authors wrote.

The researchers recommend that energy drinks carry warning labels which are similar to those for non-prescription, over-the-counter caffeine tablets. They said mixing energy with alcohol is a “dangerous phenomenon” and that young people, especially adolescents, appear to be the least concerned about it. Almost 25 per cent of calls related to a combination of alcohol and energy drinks and another 30 per cent involved the co-ingestion of caffeine tablets or other stimulants such as amphetamines.

The report said that the review and regulation of energy drinks currently being considered by the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council is “timely and essential”.

Caffeinated energy drinks also have other potential health problems, such as obesity. The research has been published in the Medical Journal of Australia. The national poisons hotline number is 13 11 26.