Energy Drink

Energy Drink

Caffeine is a stimulant that leads to temporarily-restored alertness, and is found in various kinds of seeds, leaves, and plants. It is an infusion of extracted caffeinated bean from the coffee plant and tea bush. Its purpose is both clear and highly effective. Caffeine can be found in many different available beverages, such as coffee, tea, soda, and of course, energy drinks. Many people do not realize that caffeine can be toxic at certain doses, leading to serious health risks. Tan-Li Hsu, author of "High on Caffeine: Regulating Energy Drinks," effectively argues the merit of providing warnings of caffeine content on all drinks that contain the highly-addictive drug. The demand for products with caffeine is ever-increasing across the country. Hsu shows the negative influence of caffeine on the everyday lives of Americans, especially teenagers. She explains that the 1997 introduction of Red Bull has spiked interest in energy drinks. Today, there are no rules or regulations for the percentage or amount of caffeine contained in energy drinks. The U.S. government should place regulations on caffeine content to protect consumers' health, as well as to protect the new generation from problems associated with excess caffeine, and it should also stop manufacturers from increasing the amount of caffeine in their products.

The excessive caffeine in energy drinks doesn't just give a boost of energy, it also gives a boost of health problems. This kind of boost will have different effects on different people, depending on their tolerability. Most people are not aware of the consequences of drinking too much caffeine. For instance, people with high blood pressure should be alerted to the fact that caffeine plays a large role in causing blood pressure to spike. Energy drink companies are hiding facts such as this from consumers and are concentrating only on the insignificant positive side. With no regulation on caffeine content, manufacturers are allowed to run free and increase the amount of caffeine in their products as much as they like. Energy drinks contain 10 times the amount of caffeine found in soda, more than the standard daily allowance identified by the Food and Drug Administration (Hsu). While the FDA can control food products, limiting them to 71 milligrams for each 12-oz can, energy drinks are considered "dietary supplements" and therefore are free from regulation (Hsu). Regulatory departments must put clear regulations on all the manufactures of energy drinks, limiting the amount of caffeine in their products.

Today, manufacturers of energy drinks seem to be targeting teenagers more than adults in their advertising. Currently, more than 7.6 million teens are drinking energy drinks. This leads to a huge income source for all the manufactures (Hsu) of these drinks. They make their drinks attractive to teenagers by choosing catchy names for their products,