To be pissed off with local shop selling energy drinks with taurine to school kids and to write to MP

[FunBagFreddie]

DS is at secondary school and has lunch money etc, and recently I have found empty cans of energy drinks in his bag. These drinks are not just caffeine, they contain taurine which has been banned in some countries - France, Norway, Denmark. Effects of long term use can include paranoia, heart problems and it can disrupt neurotransmitters. I really don?t think that many parents are aware of just how unhealthy these drinks potentially are. The caffeine content is way too high for youngsters too imo.

The cans specifically state that it should not be sold to children, yet shops are selling it to kids in their school uniform. You see them all drinking it round here. I also wonder whether drinking it regularly for the buzz could lead to an increased likelihood to experiment with amphetamines further down the line. I'm not some puritan, but amphetamines are nasty drugs. Nobody thinks it's ok to sell tobacco and alcohol to minors, so why the hell is this crap being sold to them?

AIBU to write to my local MP about this problem?

[PedanticPanda]

(Again with clickable links)

Here are some stats I found, im on my phone so cant properly cite articles but the webpage links and journal names and dates should be enough. A study published in the American Journal of Pharmacology and Toxicology (2010) found that taurine is implicated in hallucination. This was also supported by academics at the University of Durham who have recorded increased likelihood of hallucination from high caffeine intake, and the hallucinogenic risks of taurine are far more potent in the young.

"The study from the University of Miami viewed young people with cardiac or seizure disorders as particularly vulnerable. We just have to look at the figures to see the overall vulnerability. The study highlights the fact that, in 2007, 46% of the caffeine overdoses in the US occurred in people under the age of 19. In Ireland, between 1999 and 2005, 17 separate incidents of specifically energy-drink-related adverse events were recorded, including confusion, rapid heartbeat, seizures and two deaths. Similarly, between 2005 and 2009, New Zealand?s poison centre reported 20 energy-drink-related adverse events, with 12 cases of vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain, jitteriness, rapid heartbeat and agitation referred for treatment." (This paragraph was found at //www.parliament.uk).

This is the sad case of Tyler Johns, an 11 year old boy who became addicted to energy drinks and hanged himself; menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1114302_call_to_ban_sale_of_energy_drinks_to_kids

And there is Shaun Biggs of Lower Earley who died of heart failure after drinking red bull. Peter Biggs, Shaun's father, has set up the group SAFE, the Shaun Awareness Foundation for Energy Drinks to raise awareness of the issue. www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2075986_shaun_biggs_dad_denies_sons_death_was_natural
m.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2012/07/18/comment-the-unexplored-dangers-of-high-energy-drinks

And Sean cooney, who died after drinking 4 cans of energy drinks, and was the reason behind France banning the drink (although due to EU regulations the ban wasn't upheld). www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/5753.php
www.telegraph.co.uk/health/1374291/Student-died-after-sharing-three-cans-of-Red-Bull.html

[lljkk]

Ridiculous scare-mongering thread.

[dysfunctionalme]

I don't think it is ridiculous or scaremongering at all. If you think back about 10yrs, no one drank "energy" drinks, they are a new thing which means that research about effects is in its infancy.

We do know that energy drinks contain the maximum amount of caffeine that is legal, enormous amounts of sugar (average of 13 teaspoons, cola contains less), as well as a variety of stimulants.

The marketing is very aggressive and specifically targets teenagers with the message that it is cool to drink these absurd concoctions.