"By Monday, Four Loko, the alcohol-and-caffeine-laced energy drink, is scheduled to be removed from store shelves nationwide, following a ruling last month by the Food and Drug Administration that the safety of such beverages is unproven and that they should no longer be manufactured or sold. During the resulting media coverage, surprisingly little attention was focused on a corollary topic. What about nonalcoholic energy drinks, which will remain on sale? Are they safe? Effective? Who should be drinking them? Who shouldn’t?"
Original Article
Now that the popular alcoholic energy drink, Four Loko, is now banned, many people are questioning how safe regular energy drinks are. research says that energy drinks contain unhealthy amounts of
"sugar (up to a quarter cup per can), caffeine and other ingredients, like the stimulatory herb guarana and the amino acid taurine." Although energy drinks are sometimes considered "sports drinks", the truth is that very few athletes actually drink the product that they advertise. Energy drinks have sugar and also
caffeine in them. Some athletes do say that they drink the sugar free version of Red Bull and it does improve their performance.
"Mixing alcohol and caffeine is hardly a new concept, but a rash of cases involving students and others who landed at hospitals after drinking beverages that combine the two in a single large can has alarmed college and health officials around the country."
Original Article
Four Loko is an alcoholic drink mixed with an energy drink. This drink is 12% alcohol. People say that it is dangerous because the energy part of the drink makes you stay up and you continue drinking more than you realize you have been drinking. This drink has sent dozens of college students to the hospital and it is now showing up and more high school parties. Some states are starting to ban the drink all together.
