NIGERIA and United States (U.S.) medical experts have issued fresh warnings on the use of high-caffeine energy drinks. They also called for proper labelling of the products. Caffeine is an alkaloid found in coffee, tea, and kola nuts, which acts as a stimulant and a diuretic, inducing urination.

The National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has also warned the public that energy drinks contained high level of sugar and caffeine. Director-General, NAFDAC, Prof. Dora Akunyili, said: "It is not good for pregnant women and children. It is not good to be taken at night."

According to a report published on Tuesday's issue of the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, lead author, Dr. Roland R. Griffiths and his colleagues at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine called for regulations requiring energy drink makers to list the caffeine content of their products on their labels, and alerted on potential caffeine intoxication.

Even before now, medical experts and manufacturers of energy drinks had warned against excessive consumption of the products. They alerted that excessive consumption of energy drinks "carries with it a risk of increased blood pressure, anxiety, shaking, elevated heart rate and increased urine production," which also increases the risk of dehydration. "If a little is good, more is not better," they added.

Akunyili said: "We want Nigerians to read labels before they buy anything, not just food products or energy drinks. Whatever you are buying, read the label, look for the expiry date, look for what that product contains, look for the NAFDAC number at least to be sure that we have screened and certified it."

The U.S. researchers, in their report on the marketing, regulation and health effects of caffeinated energy drinks, noted: "Consuming too much caffeine can cause gastrointestinal pain, anxiety and agitation, rapid heartbeat, and insomnia, especially among people who are not used to it.

The way products are advertised may boost the risk of caffeine toxicity. If you look at the advertising, you have expressions like 'slam the can' and so forth. People are being encouraged to use these products acutely to boost performance."

Manager, Coral Enterprises, Ikeja, Lagos, importers of Red Alert Energy Drink, Mr. Clement Aligwekwe, said not all energy drinks were harmful, as some contained recommended daily intake of caffeine and taurine, a type of amino acid, as well as other beneficial ingredients like ginseng.

He, however, warned Nigerians to limit their consumption of energy drinks after reading the labels. One of the authors of the new research on these beverages warns that young people who use caffeine-fuelled energy drinks may be more prone to illicit use of prescription drugs like Ritalin later on.

Griffiths explained in an interview with Reuters Health: "Because energy drinks are touted as performance enhancers and stimulants, kids who use them for these reasons will likely be more open to trying prescription drugs that promise the same effects.

It seems like it's a pretty easy threshold to step over, but as a society we want to make this a bright line." A fact sheet from NAFDAC's Directorate of Registration and Regulatory Affairs indicated that 31 energy drinks have been registered as non-alcoholic beverage between 1999 and 2007
Guardian Newspaper