Educating Consumers About 'High' Risk of Energy Drinks

COLLEGE PARK, Md.Health professionals should make it a priority to educate the public about the dangers of consuming energy drinks, and industry officials and servers should caution consumers about the risks of mixing alcohol with energy drinks, according to a new commentary published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

The authors outlined a number of reasons why energy drinks present a threat to individual and public health and safety, including caffeines association with adverse health effects, the link between mixing energy drinks with alcohol to drinking high volumes of alcohol serious alcohol-related consequences, and the risk for alcohol dependence and prescription drug use.

The authors suggested regulatory agencies should require specific labeling regarding caffeine content, with warnings about the risks associated with caffeine consumption in adolescents and in pregnant women as well as with explicit information about the potential risks associated with mixing energy drinks with alcohol.

Click here to read the commentary.