Energy drinks being sold in India have dangerous levels of caffeine, NGO Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has said after conducting lab tests in which 44% of their samples failed the maximum permissible limits as prescribed by the government.
CSE carried out tests on leading 'energy` drink brands like Red Bull and Cloud 9, and found that several samples had breached the government set standard of 145 parts per million of caffeine.
But the NGO also warned that the industry is pushing for relaxing the government norms, which would make it legitimate to have much higher concentrations of the energy boost laced with dangerous chemical in their drinks.
Under new rules, the industry wants to more than double the limits of infusing caffeine into the drinks that are usually targeted at youth and health enthusiasts.
"The Prevention of Food Adulteration allows a limit of 145 parts per million (ppm) of caffeine in carbonated beverages, but 'energy` drink manufacturers want a 320 ppm cap. What`s worse, the country`s food regulatory body seems to be toeing their line," said CSE in a release.
Red Bull producers said, "Red Bull Energy Drink contains about the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee, 80mg. This is the same in the 160 countries across the world where our product is on sale. The health authorities of these countries, including India, have concluded that Red Bull is safe to consume. Red Bull is not 'banned' anywhere: it would be like 'banning' coffee, colas or other caffeinated drinks".
Asking for strict regulatory controls over caffeine content in packaged drinks, CSE said, "Their makers and sellers claim that these help increase alertness of the mind and improve concentration, stamina and athletic performance, but in reality, the caffeine in them can cause severe health impacts."
The NGO, which had earlier stirred a debate by uncovering the presence of pesticide in carbonated drinks, pointed out that while the regular drinks were allowed a lower safe limit, the companies were asking that `energy drinks` be allowed to power their drinks with a higher level of the chemical.
CSE tested 16 samples — two each of eight brands — of `energy` drinks purchased at random from markets across the country. The brands tested were Red Bull, Coca-Cola`s Burn, Cloud 9, Hector Beverages` Tzinga, Monster Energy Ltd's Monster Ripper and three of JMJ group's XXX energy drink brands — Rejuve, Nicofix and Minus. The tests, carried out at its lab, found that 38% of the samples breached the permissible limit mentioned on the label, while 25% did not mention the caffeine content on the label. Worse, 44% breached the caffeine limit of 145 ppm.
CSE noted that as per an amendment in Rule 37-A (2) of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954, `energy` drinks were to follow the caffeine cap of 145 ppm, as is applicable to carbonated beverages. However, Red Bull owners took the matter to the Madras High Court by Red Bull and got a stay order on the amendment. The NGO said, `energy` drink manufacturers like Red Bull want 320 ppm of caffeine to be allowed as the limit in these drinks — more than double the limit allowed on carbonated beverages.
