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Amelia Arria from the University of Maryland School of Public Health and Mary Claire O’Brien from Wake Forest University School of Medicine write that current limitations for caffeine  levels in cola-like drinks do not apply to energy drinks, perhaps due to the presence of herbal ingredients and vitamins.

This has led to products on the market containing between 50- 505 mg caffeine/serving, compared with FDA limits for cola-like drinks, which is 71 mg per 12-oz serving.

As such, these products are a “just as great a threat to individual and public health and safety” as the ‘premixed’ alcoholic energy drinks recently deemed unsafe by the FDA.

“Although more research is necessary, so are proactive steps to protect public health,” write Arria and O’Brien. “To promote informed consumer choices, regulatory agencies should require specific labeling regarding caffeine content, with warnings about the risks associated with caffeine consumption in adolescents and in pregnant women as well as with explicit information about the potential risks associated with mixing energy drinks with alcohol.”

“The collective priority of health professionals should be to educate the public about known risks, and industry officials and servers should caution consumers about the risks of mixing alcohol with energy drinks,” they added.

Booming market

According to a recent report from market analyst Canadean, energy drinks have managed to maintain their popularity during the economic downturn, despite their higher price per litre and negative publicity.