Energy drinks risky, health experts say

LEHI — Lehi police recently pulled over a 16-year-old boy who was driving erratically.

The officers administered a sobriety test and the boy failed, but he hadn't consumed an ounce of alcohol. He had "only" drunk several Red Bull energy drinks.

That was just one of the horror stories about the innocent-looking drinks in decorative cans at grocery and convenience stores along the Wasatch Front and elsewhere. While the young man's choice of drink contained no alcohol, many do, said Becky Canning, a prevention specialist with the Utah County Division of Substance Abuse at a recent Lehi Community Council Family Workshop. All contain high amounts of caffeine and sugar.

Some European countries have banned Red Bull, because when it's mixed with alcohol it can kill, said Brian Alba, also a prevention specialist with the division. Four people work in the county's substance abuse prevention program while 90 work in treatment, he said.

Canning is also involved in checking stores to make sure they don't sell alcohol to underage drinkers. The division sends in an underage youth to try to buy alcoholic beverages. Recently when a young man came out toting an energy drink, the officer thought he'd made a mistake. But the youth insisted the drink contained alcohol. On further investigation the police officer found the kid was right.

Neither the clerk or the manager realized the drink was alcoholic, she said. The county health department now imposes fines on stores that sell the drinks to minors.

"They're tricking us," Canning said of those marketing energy drinks with alcohol.

Consumers fail to read the list of contents on the drinks before they purchase them, she said. Some drink labels don't admit to containing alcohol but instead say they are made with malt. A survey of people at a recent Lehi public event found that 58 percent didn't know what malt was or that it contained alcohol.

Many of the alcoholic energy drinks are made by breweries, while soft drink makers Coca-Cola and Pepsi have also jumped into the arena and are producing highly caffeinated energy drinks, Canning said.

Energy drinks, which originated in Austria about 20 years ago, are now a $3.4 billion industry in America, according to 2005 statistics. By 2010 it's estimated that the industry will grow to $10 billion. More than 500 brands are on the market with the number growing daily, Alba said.

Many grocery stores display the energy drinks with alcohol alongside energy drinks without alcohol, Canning said. Utah has no law regulating how alcoholic drinks are placed in stores.