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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Journal slams caffeine-loaded drinks
'Drugs delivered as tasty syrups,' medical mag says
Mike Harris, 15, (centre) and Shawn Shaddix, 19, (right) drink an average of two to four energy drinks per day. Ryder Headly, 14, is airborne behind them at The Forks. (JANEK LOWE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)
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TORONTO -- How caffeinated are our kids? The Canadian Medical Association Journal thinks it's a question we ought to be asking.
The journal's senior editors have published an editorial voicing alarm over the increasing popularity among kids and teens of energy drinks, some of which contain as much caffeine as several cans of cola or cups of coffee.
"Caffeine-loaded energy drinks have now crossed the line from beverages to drugs delivered as tasty syrups," the editors of the journal said in the editorial, released Monday.
They said Health Canada should require producers to use clearer labelling and should bar promotion targeting the child-and-teen market. They also suggest parents need to be informed about the caffeine contents of the drinks their kids are downing.
"We need to educate parents and kids that these things are addictive or are potentially addictive. They carry concerns with use," Dr. Paul Hebert, editor-in-chief and one of the signatories to the editorial, said in an interview.
An industry body, Refreshments Canada, took exception to the editorial, suggesting the article contains a number of inaccuracies that the group attempted to set straight before publication, to no avail.
In a letter to the editor distributed by the group Monday, Refreshments Canada said the products are regulated by Health Canada as natural health products, not foods as the editorial suggests. Labels clearly indicate the drinks aren't meant for children, pregnant women or nursing mothers and -- contrary to another claim in the editorial -- lay out how much caffeine from all sources are contained in the products.
"In Canada, by volume, mainstream energy drinks have approximately less caffeine than a cup of filter drip coffee (80 - 140 milligrams per energy drink versus 179 milligrams per 237 ml cup of coffee)," the letter stated.
"Nowhere in Canada are there energy drink products with caffeine approaching the levels you suggest in your article, although Canadians regularly consume some coffee products that come close."
Health Canada backed up the industry group's claim regarding how the products are regulated.
"Due to their medicinal ingredients (such as caffeine, taurine and vitamins), and the claims they make, energy drinks are regulated in Canada as natural health products (NHPs) under the Natural Health Products Regulations, not as foods as was stated in the article," the department said in an emailed response to questions.
The drinks must list recommended conditions for use and warnings on their labels, the email added.
In an interview, Refreshments Canada communications director Alan Grant insisted the group's members -- beverage heavyweights like Pepsi-Cola, Coca-Cola and Red Bull -- don't target children in their advertising.
-- The Canadian Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 27, 2010 A4
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