Seeing Red over some Bull

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This article was published 09/08/2010 (5739 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Congratulations on finishing school! Now you are ready to spread your wings with Red Bull,” reads a thick, diploma-like certificate given to hundreds of teenagers at a recent Kelvin High School graduation party.

The certificate was rolled into a silver canister that housed two cans of Red Bull, a popular but controversial energy drink 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 the Kelvin grad, however, used language that might attract 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."

The CMAJ editorial — which set off a series of newspaper and television reports across the country — also criticized energy drink companies for targeting children and youth in their advertising.

Refreshments Canada, a Toronto-based beverage industry association, released a statement the same day saying that the companies it represents, including Red Bull, do not target kids.

But an irate parent, who provided the Free Press with the Red Bull package distributed at the Kelvin grad, disagrees. The mother, who asked not to be identified, says many at the grad celebration were under 18 and as young as 16. Many were drinking, she says.

The label on Red Bull and other energy drinks sold in Canada warns users not to mix them with alcohol.

"Are you kidding me?" says the mother, whose son was there. "Red Bull is marketing at graduation to teenagers who are drunk."

The mother says her son and his friends "use" Red Bull because of the caffeine buzz it provides them. She says she doesn’t allow the beverages in her home.

"They’re not drinking the Red Bull because they’re thirsty," she says. "They’re drinking the Red Bull because it creates a certain feeling."

That’s what concerns CMAJ editors.

Caffeine stimulates the body’s central nervous system. It can cause 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 mask the perception of intoxication. In other words, it can fool someone who’s intoxicated into believing they are sober.

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."

Refreshments Canada spokesman Alan Grant told the Free Press that Red Bull and other energy drinks do not target people under 18 in their marketing.

When read excerpts from the Red Bull package given to young students at the Kelvin High School grad, Grant says he’s surprised. "I don’t think I’d be prepared to comment on that. It sounds unusual."

Red Bull responded to the Free Press in an email stating that it follows Health Canada labelling requirements and uses third-party vendors who market their products locally.

Health Canada spokesman Gary Holub says Red Bull is licensed for use by adults only. He says energy drink companies are subject to Health Canada’s Compliance and Enforcement Policy. If a company is found in violation of the policy, Holub says Health Canada can take a number of actions, including issuing a warning all the way to banning the sale of the product in Canada

Recent Kelvin graduate Ari East, 17, says he was thrilled to get a couple of free Red Bulls as he left his grad party. "I drank both of them in half an hour," says the teen who is set to study biochemistry at the University of Toronto in the fall.

East says he doesn’t consume alcohol, but some of his friends are more than willing to mix energy drinks with booze.

"A lot of times people will want to get sober faster," he says. "One’s an upper and ones a downer. They’ll drink a bunch of it to kind of level them out."

East says the last time he needed a serious energy boost, he chose a caffeinated energy drink called 5-Hour Energy. (The concentrated liquid comes in a small, dark bottle resembling an apothecary’s potion). He turned to the drink earlier this year when he had only a day to complete an important essay assignment.

"When I was falling asleep, I drank it. It woke me up a bit and I felt less tired and more coherent in my ability to write," says East, who believes that relying on energy drinks is unhealthy.

The Wolseley resident calls such products the "gateway" to more potent energy drinks such as Cocaine, a beverage available in the United States that boasts a 280 mg caffeine punch. Canadians can order the provocatively named Cocaine, manufactured by Redux Beverages, online, though Health Canada says doing so is illegal.

University of Manitoba kinesiology professor Todd Duhamel says parents need to worry about how energy drinks affect their kids.

"You’re going to see kids getting hyper — a bit jittery. Probably having problems sleeping at night, probably having issues with focusing, if they’re in class," says Duhamel.

Refreshments Canada has told Health Canada it wants to collaborate with the federal agency on a public awareness campaign that would educate consumers about energy drinks.

Dr. Milton Tenenbein, a pediatric toxicologist who works at Winnipeg’s Children’s Hospital, disagrees with much of the CMAJ editorial.

"It has distortions in it, it has sensationalism in it," says Tenenbein. He says one Red Bull contains approximately the same amount of caffeine as a Coke or Pepsi. "I would ask the question, ‘Would any parent, teacher, layperson, doctor be upset if a child had a large Coca-Cola at McDonald’s?’"

Tenenbein says in his 30 years of clinical experience, he has treated a few children suffering from acute caffeine poisoning, a life-threatening condition that induces epileptic seizures and altered consciousness. Most of those patients were small children who accidentally ingested 10 to 20 caffeine pills.

Tenenbein says an adolescent, considering weight and age, would have to ingest about two-dozen cans of Red Bull in one sitting to experience the same serious affects.

"Those (symptoms) could never be achieved from the energy drinks sold in Canada," says the doctor and professor of medicine. "It just can’t happen."

As for mixing energy drinks with alcohol: "It’s no different than drinking a cup of coffee and a shot of vodka," says Tenenbein.

He says the wild stories teens share about blacking out while mixing energy drinks and liquor are part of a faddish hype. "In medicine, we call that the placebo affect," he says. "If you feel it’s going to happen, there’s a greater likelihood that it will happen."

One point in the CMAJ editorial Tenenbein does agree with? Energy drink companies target children in their advertising.

"To say that they don’t market this product to youth is an absolute bold-face lie, quite frankly. You only have to go to the Redbull.ca website and it would take you a half a second to see that they are clearly marketing this stuff to youth."

 

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