In response to “Update on Emergency Department Visits Involving Energy Drinks: A Continuing Public Health Concern,” a paper appearing in the January 10 issue of The DAWN Report, the American Beverage Association issued the following statement: 

Statement:

“This report does not share information about the overall health of those who may have consumed energy drinks, or what symptoms brought them to the ER in the first place.  In fact, it shows that 42 percent of the reported ER visits were by someone who had admitted to consuming alcohol or taking illegal substances or pharmaceuticals.  However, there is no way to assess whether any of the remaining individuals chose not to report this fact, and the consumption of those substances along with energy drinks means the energy drinks may be irrelevant.  Additionally, there is no basis by which to understand the overall caffeine intake of any of these individuals – from all sources, from coffee or other caffeinated products. 

Importantly, caffeine has been deemed safe for consumption by the FDA and most mainstream energy drinks contain about half the caffeine of a similar size cup of coffeehouse coffee.”

Additional Background Information:

On the Report:

According to the most recent available annual data from CDC, 136.1 million visits were made to emergency room facilities. Source:http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/ervisits.htm DAWN is intended to monitor drug-related emergency department visits, not the alleged effects of consuming non-alcoholic beverages. The authors inaccurately suggest that the caffeine contained in energy drinks is dramatically higher than other caffeinated beverages, even comparing the amount of caffeine in an average energy drink with that of a 5 ounce cup of coffee. This is an unfair comparison.  Typical cups of coffee contain at least 8 ounces.  Furthermore, most mainstream energy drinks contain about half the caffeine of a similar size cup of coffeehouse coffee. 

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The American Beverage Association is the trade association representing the broad spectrum of companies that manufacture and distribute non-alcoholic beverages in the United States.  For more information on ABA, please visit the association’s Web site at www.ameribev.org or call the ABA communications team at (202) 463-6770.

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