Red Bull , world's top selling energy drink, has been named in 21 adverse event reports by the Food and Drug Administration. Energy drinks have been making a lot of news of late for their possible health menace.
There were no deaths cited in the report but complaints in the report included severe abdominal pain, dizziness, increased heart rate, vomiting and anxiety. According to FDA's website, some cases needed hospitalization.
Red Bull said it was oblivious to any such complaints to FDA. "As the FDA stated, the existence of an adverse event report does not necessarily mean that the product identified in the report actually caused the adverse event," Red Bull said in a statement, reports New York Times. According to Red Bull's official website, the product contains 80 milligrams of caffeine, as much as an average cup of coffee.
The FDA reports reveal that there are about 18 filings involving casualty and more than 150 involving injuries. Top selling energy drinks like Rockstar Inc, Monster Beverage Corp and Living Essentials LLC's 5-Hour Energy products were cited in the report. "The agency is making the reports public as they become available", Bangkokpost quoted Shell Burgess, an FDA spokeswoman as saying. FDA is yet to release data for Pepsi Co Inc's AMP Energy and Coca Cola's NOS.
The 5 Hour Energy Drink was linked to 13 deaths and 33 hospitalizations. Another popular drink Rockstar had 13 filings though no death links were found. Monster, according to the Bangkokpost report, had 40 reports including 5 deaths and 20 hospitalizations. No deaths have been attributed to Red Bull.
