Fed up with THE BULL

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/10/2010 (5495 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Toronto father Jim Shepherd read a Free Press story reveal­ing that Red Bull had broken rules by distrib­uting samples of their caffeinated energy drinks to underage students at a Kelvin High School gradua­tion party, he was “sickened.”

He’s even more angry now since learning Red Bull dispensed their products at two other Winnipeg grads — Shaftesbury High School and Dakota Collegiate.

The news painfully reminded Shepherd of his 15-year-old son, Brian, who died in 2008 hours after consuming a sample of Red Bull. The athletic kid had been at a paintball tournament the day he died and collapsed at the award ceremony. He was rushed to hospital and pronounced dead due to an irregular heartbeat.

The coroner later told Brian’s parents their boy had tested negative for genetic heart defects. All that was in his system at the time of his death, said doctors, were two life-saving drugs given to him at the hospital.

And caffeine.

Three months later, Shepherd returned to the east Toronto paintball facility where his son died. He returned to hang a memorial plaque commemorating the 15-year-old. He wondered out loud how caffeine was in Brian’s system. After all, the only things the teen liked to drink were apple juice, water and milk.

That’s when the owner of the facility gave the grieving father some startling news: Red Bull’s marketing team visited the facility handing out samples the day Brian died. He had been seen drinking the energy drink.

Shepherd immediately decided to take on energy drink giants like Red Bull, although he admits he can’t prove the company’s product caused his son’s death. The car mechanic spends 10 hours a week corresponding with Health Canada, talking with medical researchers and encouraging people to report any adverse reactions after consuming energy drinks. He recently took his case to the House of Commons.

His goal? To stop energy-drink companies — a $5-billion industry — from marketing to children.

“I made a promise to Brian that I would continue to advocate until youths are safe,” Shepherd says during a phone interview from Toronto. He wants Red Bull to stop sampling its products to kids, a practice that already breaches Health Canada rules.

Shepherd admits he can’t prove Red Bull caused his son’s death.

In an emailed statement to the Free Press, Red Bull’s Toronto-based spokesman says that the company is “sympathetic” to Shepherd’s loss of his son, but a coroner’s investigation into the death but found no link to the consumption of Red Bull. The company also says that “the health authorities of 160 countries, including Canada, have concluded that Red Bull is safe.”

Shepherd is compiling evidence of Red Bull’s questionable sampling practices. He’s spoken to parents, physicians and scientists from around the world and all support the idea that sudden arrhythmia from caffeine is possible. He hopes the contentious Red Bull marketing material distributed at Winnipeg grads will help his cause.

“I want to have it in my hands to say, ‘Yes, this is real. And say to Health Canada, ‘What are you going to do about this?'” says Shepherd. “Because they continue to tell me they’re working on it. These particular words get under my skin.”

In August, the Free Press broke the story that Red Bull violated Health Canada rules by distributing its controversial but popular products to underage high school students. Doing so is a breach of section 14 of the Food and Drug Act, the rules under which energy drinks — considered natural health products — are governed.

In an interview with the Free Press, Red Bull’s industry association, Refreshments Canada, denied that Red Bull targets children in their advertising.

But the marketing material handed out at Winnipeg grads prove otherwise. “Congratulations on finishing school! Now you are ready to spread your wings with Red Bull,” reads a thick, diploma-like certificate given to at least 1,000 Winnipeg teens, some whom were under 18.

The certificate was rolled into a silver canister that contained two cans of Red Bull, a beverage that’s laced with vitamins and caffeine. According to the product label, children should not consume Red Bull.

The Red Bull marketing material handed out at Winnipeg grads however, uses language that clearly appeals to youths.

 

“School’s out forever!” says the large faux certificate, decorated with an image of a flying bull. “…After all of the stress of these past weeks, the first thing you should do is take a flight up to party heaven.

“And Red Bull will give you the wings you need to get there.”

Doctors from the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) call caffeinated energy drinks dangerous for children and youths. In an online editorial published July 26, they wrote that such products “have now crossed the line from beverages to drugs delivered as tasty syrups.”

Caffeine stimulates the body’s central nervous system. It can induce nervousness, sleeplessness and rapid heart rate, says the CMAJ. Caffeine pills contain 100 mg to 200 mg of caffeine. Most of the energy drinks available in Canada contain 80 to 140 mg of caffeine — equivalent to the caffeine in one cup of coffee.

It’s common for party-goers and bar-hoppers to mix energy drinks with alcohol — a practice the CMAJ says can fool drunk people into believing they are sober.

Other brands such as 5-Hour Energy are concentrated, making them easy to shoot back in multiples.

The labels on most energy drinks say they aren’t intended for children, pregnant women and those sensitive to caffeine.

The CMAJ is calling for clearer warning labels on energy drinks. They also want to prevent energy drink companies from advertising to youths, a “vulnerable group.”

Shepherd is angry at Health Canada for not punishing energy drink companies such as Red Bull for breaking rules. The federal agency has repeatedly promised him they would force Red Bull to stop sampling.

An email dated Feb. 4, 2009 addressed to Shepherd from Health Canada says that Red Bull “has been informed that they must cease further sampling of their Red Bull energy drink and they have agreed to comply with Health Canada’s regulations.”

Health Canada refused to comment on the email and would not tell the Free Press if it plans to take action against Red Bull. “(I’m) sickened that after two years I’ve seen no real effect as far as curbing their marketing,” says Shepherd, who is not surprised that Red Bull gave away promotional packages at the Kelvin, Shaftesbury and Dakota Collegiate graduation parties.

“To me this is just another perfect example of inappropriate marketing. It went far beyond sampling with what was, in that (certificate), basically suggesting (students) to what? To get high and party? And Red Bull will take you there?”

Red Bull refused to answer questions about the high school promotional packages given out in Winnipeg and about how they went about contacting high school grad organizers. In an email, the company said that “third party vendors and marketers” were responsible for the material.

Two school division spokesmen told the Free Press that Canad Inns representatives approached the grad committees and passed along Red Bull’s proposition of free samples. Canad Inns, a Manitoba hotel chain, is a Red Bull vendor. All three grad parties took place at Canad Inns Polo Park.

It’s unclear whether Red Bull pays Canad Inns to promote their product to high school grads. Canad Inns owner Leo Ledohowski did not return phone calls or emails from the Free Press.

School division spokesmen distanced themselves from their schools’ high school grad parties, also known as safe grad. They said safe grad functions take place outside of the school and are run by a volunteer parent committee.

“Safe Grad is not an official school function,” said a statement released by Winnipeg School Division after officials refused an interview about the Kelvin grad party.

Louis Riel School Division superintendent Terry Borys says neither the parent-run safe grad committee nor the school invited Red Bull to hand out samples at the Dakota grad party.

“It wasn’t Dakota Collegiate inviting them and it wasn’t part of a safe grad thing. Some folks decided to set up a booth, a table, do some marketing and give the students… Red Bull on their way out.”

Lawrence Lussier, superintendent for Pembina Trails School Division, said he, too, was unaware of the Red Bull samples handed out at Shaftesbury’s safe grad.

“This is not something that I’m involved in,” he says. “If Red Bull gets involved in approaching the parent committee, I’m not going to know about it.”

Parents from the safe grad committees at all three schools refused requests for interviews.

A woman whose son attended the Kelvin grad party says school divisions are taking the easy way out by distancing themselves from safe grads. She says school staffers should sit on each safe grad committee to make the school more accountable for the event.

“The function might be outside of school but it’s for and because of school. Without school there would be no grad. Let’s talk about passing the buck,” says the mother, who didn’t want her name published.

Shepherd doesn’t blame parents for not being informed about the potential dangers of caffeinated energy drinks.

“My guess would be that those parents were probably like me. When I heard that my son had a Red Bull, I had to learn what a Red Bull was. Industry does not target my age group,” says the father, whose son, Brian, would have turned 18 in two weeks.

“Technically, I am guilty as well. I felt this all my life, that industry influences our children. But technically I never spoken up until now.”

 

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