So this is not a new story by any means, caffeine content within energy drinks has been an issue that keeps resurfacing time after time, especially on slow news days. But the fact that in these times lawmakers are more concerned with what’s on a label than what’s going on in the economy is just downright confusing. Case in point, Sen. Michael Switalski of Michigan is pushing for a bill to require energy drinks to label the caffeine content of their drinks.
Now personally, BevUniverse has nothing against adding caffeine content to energy drink labels. In fact, that would make our job easier at times when it comes to reviewing them as currently a lot of energy drink companies lump caffeine content into their “Energy Blend” along with other ingredients like taurine, guarana (natural caffeine) ginseng, etc.
Our issues with Sen. Michael Switalski and his proposed bill stems from some of his recent comments including:
“Switalski said energy drinks marketed to children are loaded with caffeine and should include the information on labels.”
AND
“One drink, called 5-Hour Energy, for example, contains 500 milligrams of caffeine, more than five times the amount of coffee, Switalski said. Another, called Fixx, contains 200 milligrams.”
First off he has his facts wrong. 5-Hour Energy contains (per bottle) “as much caffeine as a cup of coffee.” How much caffeine is in a cup of coffee? About 80-90 milligrams… Not 500. And the Fixx Energy Drink Switalski is referring to USED to contain 500 milligrams of caffeine, but since the drink is no longer being made it really doesn’t matter how much caffeine is in it. Fixx has switched focus from Energy Drinks to Energy Shots, of which their new shot contains 400 milligrams of caffeine (clearly labeled).
Second off, he could have used some better examples when referring to energy drinks being marketed to children. Last I checked 5-Hour and Fixx (when still being made) were both marketed primarily towards athletes. If Switalski wants a better reference maybe he should mention the likes of ZipFizz as their energy package has cartoon drawings and comes in colorful powder forms.
“There appears to be a proliferating java race among the makers of these drinks to come up with the hippest, coolest name and the most amount of zing for the buck,” Switalski”
If Switalski wants caffeine content labels on energy drinks, why is her referring to it as a “Java Race”? Java is commonly used as a slang referring to coffee.
Again, BevUniverse has no problems with adding the caffeine content label to energy drinks, just get the facts straight and possibly work on the timing. If I were in Michigan and my “lawmakers” were focusing on these types of issues vs. the current state of the economy I would be fuming.
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