VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Do they give you wings? Not really. But they do give you a big dose of caffeine or other stimulants.
There's a push to have the sale of energy drinks like Red Bull and Monster tightly regulated, available only on the shelves of a pharmacy and re-labelled as 'stimulant drug containing drinks.'
According to a report from an expert medical panel for
Health Canada, obtained by Postmedia News, the idea is to send a message to people who drink them -- especially young people -- that energy drinks are drug products, not foods.
"I think they are intense," says one young man. He drinks products like Rock Star, but thinks you have to be careful. "I think if you are taking multiple energy drinks in a day, maybe you need to start stepping it back."
A spokesperson for the Health Minister tells Postmedia News the report is under consideration as the department works on a plan to deal with energy drinks. But one pharmacist tells
News1130 he is skeptical:
"Health Canada has a hard enough time regulating other natural health products. I don't see how they can keep tabs on something like this," explains Jason, behind the counter at a big drug store chain. "Some of them may contain lots of caffeine perhaps, but do you go to Starbucks and regulate their coffee?"
He also wonders if re-naming and re-labelling energy drinks will be a deterrent. "Will that stop people from buying them? I don't think so. Cigarettes are the same way. You can put all those horrendous warnings on them and it hasn't stopped people. I don't think it's going to curb sales."
Other recommendations from Health Canada's panel include putting warning labels on energy drinks that state they can cause serious adverse events, possibly due to cardiac events.