Health Canada investigating Red Bull's effects

[vancitypimp]

http://sympaticomsn.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1103388247007_32?hub=Health

Health Canada investigating Red Bull's effects

CTV.ca News Staff

Health Canada is investigating a popular energy drink it approved for sale less than six months ago.

Red Bull is all the rage among club-goers and energy junkies in Canada. However, the drink has been banned in France and Denmark.

Health Canada says it's now looking into three reports of adverse health effects from consuming the drink.

"The whole situation is under review right now," said Health Canada's Natalie Lalonde, opening up the possibility that the drink could be banned in this country as well.

At about $3.50 for a can, Red Bull is an expensive drink. But the owner of a downtown Toronto variety store says Red Bull quickly replaced Coca-Cola as his number one seller.

The can may be small, but it packs a big caffeine punch. One serving has the same amount of the stimulant as a large Starbucks coffee.

Young people report different reactions after trying the drink. "It builds up your energy to be more active," said TJ Ramos.

Daryl Golden described Red Bull as "just kind of a sugary alcoholic-type drink."

Kieran Meyn said he "felt a little more energized," but said Red Bull was "nothing special."

Ciaran Persad did exactly what you're not supposed to do with Red Bull -- he drank it while working out.

"A lot of strange things happened actually," Persad said. "I got some strange muscle twitches in my arm."

The University of Toronto's Ahmed el-Sohemy says he's not surprised. A gene-diet interaction specialist, el-Sohemy has been studying the effects of caffeine on the human body for years.

"I think it's dangerous to market a product as a sports drink that has these ingredients in it," he said.

Red Bull is the best-selling energy drink in Europe, where retailers sell 1.6 billion cans each year. But, Canadian consumers will have to wait for the results of the Health Canada review to find out whether the drink will stay on the shelves in this country as well.

With files from CFTO's Paul Bliss

[RVachon]

Canada sucks...why do they have to dictate things people should or shouldn't have? Last time I checked, this wasn't a communist country!! Oh well, just something else I'll have to smuggle across the line. IDIOT!!

They'll ban Red Bull, but smoking is allowed. Tell me how this makes any sense? ****ing stupid country. No wonder anyone with any intelligence is going elsewhere, now were left with dummies and their in the government also. :evil:

[Carnage]

They fail to realize exactly what the drink is.

It's not just some super cafein drink like jolt or something. The cafein really has nothing to do with the drink.

Red Bull has a certain chemical in it(I'm blanking on the name right now) which gives the "kick" to it. In fact I've even heard of people in europe just getting the chemical itself in powder form and taking it directly.

[bluetroll]

i just know that with vodka its an amazing drink.

[akito925]

whats this drink used for towarfds?? what kinda of activity?? pull all niter for studyingh??

[JAC]

http://www.snopes.com/toxins/redbull.htm

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=92629

The high level of caffeine and sugar are what can cause problems. The benefits or hazards (if any) of taurine are still unknown.

[Carnage]

whats this drink used for towarfds?? what kinda of activity?? pull all niter for studyingh??

I wouldn't use it as a study aid.

It basically makes you super hyper. You wouldn't be able to concentrate on something like stuying.

The closest thing I'd compare it to is legal speed. ;) Though it's affects aren't as strong when drunk by itself. If you drink it with booze it can make you pretty crazy. ;)

[adamtheman]

They will ban this for the same reason they banned the Stacker 2 w/ ephedra stuff. If people start having heart attacks and stuff after drinking a Red Bull and working out, then they will remove it. Who cares if Red Bull tells you not to workout while drinking it, still doesn't mean it's ok to produce a drink that causes chest pains while working out. So if Health Canada finds that this drink is a risk then they will remove it most certainly. My buddy has a friend who can get me Red Bull for $25 a 12 case ($2 a can) down here in Vancouver. His friend is the major red bull distributor. I am going to stock up on it now !

[CSK'sMom]

Thank you Carnage for setting the record stright, so to speak. Personally I'd like to see it banned. We had an incident this past year with a football player on my oldest's highschool team. The kids were downing a couple Red Bull's beore games and one kid had quite severe chest pains. It scared the crap out of everyone to see the paramedics on the field. Since that incident the coaches have told the team that they will remove anyone caught using it, either during workouts or before games. Now if we could get some controls on some of the other "supplements" I think it would be well worth it in the big picture.

[Viz79]

Was Red Bull ever legal in Canada? I've noticed they changed their packaging recently from the old all-Thai packaging to the newly designed English Red Bull now.

I'm told the new Red Bull is a toned-down version of the old version, with less ephedra to make it legal in Canada.

Anyway, I don't understand why people don't drink Red Bull responsibly. Read up on the effects of ephedra and drink Red Bull responsibly... :rolleyes:

~V79~

[JAC]

Canadian Red Bull never contained ephedra.

[Byrns]

Was Red Bull ever legal in Canada? I've noticed they changed their packaging recently from the old all-Thai packaging to the newly designed English Red Bull now.

I'm told the new Red Bull is a toned-down version of the old version, with less ephedra to make it legal in Canada.

Anyway, I don't understand why people don't drink Red Bull responsibly. Read up on the effects of ephedra and drink Red Bull responsibly... :rolleyes:

~V79~

Red Bull doesn't contain ephedra, but it does have 80mg of caffeine which is where you get your buzz from.

[Invasionmix]

I bought 2 cans of Austrian red bull a month ago, and it does have ephedra but anyways half a can of that and a shot of jagermeister (Jagar Bomb) I was off the wall, I was yelling and enraging, punching and kicking everything, it's messed up, the Canadian version is so weak 80 mg of caffeine? Thats a Venti size starbucks drink big whoop.

[Carnage]

Red Bull doesn't contain ephedra, but it does have 80mg of caffeine which is where you get your buzz from.

I'm pretty sure the buzz comes from the taurine, not the caffeine. Caffeine alone can't give you the same sort of a kick that red bull gives you.

[TenzoR]

Canada sucks...why do they have to dictate things people should or shouldn't have? Last time I checked, this wasn't a communist country!! Oh well, just something else I'll have to smuggle across the line. IDIOT!!

They'll ban Red Bull, but smoking is allowed. Tell me how this makes any sense? ****ing stupid country. No wonder anyone with any intelligence is going elsewhere, now were left with dummies and their in the government also. :evil:

please leave

we, Canadians, do not want you here anyways

[alkaseltzer01]

Red bull is sold as a drug in Canada (ie. must have DIN).

Drugs are approved by Health Canada, so Health Canada can do whatever they want.

[GTI]

I dunno who approved the sale of them, but the 7-11 here was stacked with them, must be popular. I tried one down in the states and it didn't do anything for me.

[Viz79]

Canadian Red Bull never contained ephedra.

Which version is the Canadian Red Bull? The only ones I've seen so far are the ones imported from Thailand sold in Chinatown.

So are you saying the non-Canadian Red Bulls contain ephedra?

~V79~

[saskwatcher]

http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/health/redbull/index.html

"It was recently approved for sale in Canada – although its label must carry several warnings for consumers. And Marketplace has discovered those warnings are being ignored."

Check out their findings.

[Ngo_35]

Just watched market place today during superbowl. I might drink it before a hockey game to get me blood runnin.

[alkaseltzer01]

Haha, it's like cigarettes. Warnings everywhere, but doesn't stop people from smoking.

[Whisky]

bah.. red bull is all marketing.. this drink does absolutely nothing to the average person.. if it does... its all psychological. Its like downing Gatorade and thinking you are going to perform better on the football field.

[confused]

I do like the canned version more than the bottled version.. for the taste!

must we get everything so late here. I was in London in 2000, they had Smirnoff Ice and RedBull before we ever got em..

btw, RedBull + Vodka = yummay

[ptxpress]

bah.. red bull is all marketing.. this drink does absolutely nothing to the average person.. if it does... its all psychological. Its like downing Gatorade and thinking you are going to perform better on the football field.

agreed....I had my cousin from Europe bring me case of the stuff...I drank em when I thought I needed energy, and I was no more/less tired or drained then I was before drinking it. It's all in your head folks.

If you think caffeine is dangerous, then we should ban all coffee/pop/etc.

BTW...double-dose caffeine drinks (ie. Jolt) have been available here for a while, and no-one has ever complained about it.

[grant]

If you think caffeine is dangerous, then we should ban all coffee/pop/etc.

That's as silly as saying 'if you think 180 proof grain alchohol is dangerous, then we should ban all beer & wine!'

There's a big difference in the concentrations! It's obviously very easy to get poisoned by 1 but a lot harder with the other.

"the poison is in the dose"

also, there's more suspicious stuff in red bull than just caffeine... as explained in the linked article...

[Think]

silly

[putty]

But it gives you wings!!

[peterbrowne]

i've gotta try that stuff one time