The energy drink phenomenon seems to have infiltrated its way into the refrigerators and grocery shelves of U.S. stores over the span of the last decade. It is a staple of the energy demanding society in which we live, and unsurprisingly it attracts a lot of media attention. After reading various articles on the subject to understand the often negative way the drinks are portrayed, one thought came to my mind: the original energy drink, coffee, seems like a forgotten concept.
Every article reporting on the adverse effects of energy drinks cites some study of caffeine-related health risks, or some case of a hospitalized over-indulgent student. Several countries have even banned the drinks after similar incidents. Almost all of the literature deals with the negative effects on children and teenage addiction to these drinks. In fact, the attention seems to be on the youth consumers, rather than on the “dangerous” chemicals in the drinks. This is because the problem with energy drinks seems to be not the contents, but rather the presentation.
Whether the presentation or advertising is specifically targeted towards adolescents, or is just an unfortunate similarity to their favorite soda beverages, the conflict lies in the appeal to the youth. The media makes the drinks sound outlandish and risky, but what the beverage companies have essentially done is repackage the concept of coffee into a soda mimic. The only chemicals in energy drinks that have any energetic effects are the sugars and the caffeine, which are identical in coffee. The only difference here is that coffee is unappealing to children because it is either too hot, too bitter; however, when it is wrapped up like a soda, sweet and bubbly, it becomes an after-school favorite, and a nightmare to a generation of parents.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/wear/7255306.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7593854.stm
http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/energy-drink.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/23/business/23drinks.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=energy%20drinks&st=cse
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2 comments:
Personally, I would rather drink coffee than an energy drink because coffee does not have all those extra "harmful" ingredients in it. Why ingest all those uneeded chemicals? Energy drinks also contain a whole lot of sugar. I don't even put sugar in my coffee. In fact, I drink it black. So at least you can control the amount of sugar you put in your coffee. Therefore, I can understand why energy drinks are being banned from certain countries and schools.
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