At first, it was only the gaming elite that consumed high-caffeine drinks to ensure high speed and sharp reflexes.  But, over the years, the market for energy drinks has been expanding rapidly and gaining popularity with people consuming them just as they consume soda drinks.  According to a report, United States citizens alone spent approximately US $5.4-billion on energy drinks in 2006, a figure growing fast at approximately 47% per year.

However, a study recently published in The Drug & Alcohol Dependence journal warns against excessive consumption of energy drinks that can cause caffeine intoxication, which is a recognized clinical syndrome described by a number of symptoms like excitement, nervousness, anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, gastrointestinal upset, tremors, rapid heartbeat, restlessness, rambling thought flow and pacing, in rare cases, even causing death.

Irish athlete Ross Cooney, 18 died in 2000 after consuming four cans of Red Bull, a popular energy drink.  Soon after France banned the drink though it was lifted after a few days, but it remains banned in Norway, Uruguay and Denmark.

Roland Griffiths from Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and one of the study’s authors says, while energy drink labels do not carry caffeine amounts and included few warning of potential health risk due to caffeine intoxication, the caffeine content in some is the equivalent of 14-cans of Coca-Cola, varying over a 10-fold range.

Though the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has limited the caffeine content for food products (71-milligrams per 12-ounce can), regular 12-ounce cola drinks contain 35-milligrams with 150-milligrams in a 6-ounce cup of coffee.  However, since energy drinks do not fall under food products, being designated as dietary supplements to increase energy and physical performance, their caffeine content remains unmonitored and they do not carry warning labels, despite the fact that over the counter caffeine containing products are required to do so.

Promoted as performance enhancers, FDA has rapped manufacturers of energy drinks for targeting teens and young adults with misleading advertising by giving names like Cocaine and Blow (a powdered drink in vial form) to their drinks.

However, FDA needs to take stronger action than occasional hand-slaps, as John Hopkins researchers say, apart from caffeine intoxication, energy drinks taken with alcohol make for a dangerously lethal combination, which a recent survey shows 27% of college students are in the habit of consuming at least once a month.  There is also sufficient evidence that energy drinks can also lead to more serious drug abuse, including abuse of prescription stimulant drugs like Ritalin.