Energy drink guzzlers, do read the fine print on the can

Watch out before you take the next swig of your favourite canned energy drink. You may be gulping down more caffeine than what is approved. The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), Maharashtra, recently issued a notice to all major canned energy drink manufacturers and distributors asking them to withdraw that stock from the market which contains more caffeine than permitted by the Union health ministry.

The latest central notification, issued on June 19, 2009, says energy drinks should not contain more than 145 parts per million (ppm) of caffeine. While the earlier official cap was 200ppm, popular energy drink brands overshot the limit by nearly 100ppm.

“This is a violation of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act,” says the notice issued by FDA commissioner Dhanraj Khamatkar. A copy of the notice is with DNA. In April this year, FDA officials had raided the Mumbai and Pune godowns of leading canned energy drink brands and confiscated stocks worth at least Rs6 crore. The caffeine content was as high as 300ppm.

Till June this year, a top FDA official says, the permissible limit of caffeine in non-alcoholic carbonated energy drinks was 200ppm. “However, in the raid conducted in April, some of the brands had caffeine content as high as 300ppm,’’ he adds. The officials, however, are not able to ascertain the exact quantity of the drinks which have already hit the market.

Doctors, meanwhile, warn against excessive use of such drinks. Energy drinks provide direct glucose which is not really required by your body, says Dr Richa Anand, executive dietician, Dr LH Hiranandani Hospital.

“Occasional consumption is permissible, but if you do it regularly over a longer period of time, the ill-effects are bound to show up,” she warns. These include irregular rhythm of the heart, excessive anxiety, hyperactivity, sleeplessness and high blood pressure