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Rise in Cases of Caffeine Toxicity Startle the Authorities
Submitted by Olivia Conroy on Tue, 01/17/2012 - 11:07
As per recent reports, it has been revealed that health professionals are urging the government to formulate a regulation for placing warning labels on energy drinks having caffeine as one of their most active and abundant component .
The calls have narrowly tailed the reports of a recently concluded study, wherein the researchers found a spiky increase in the count of people complaining heart ailments, chest pains and tremors after drinking the so-called energy drinks, especially teens.
During the period from January 2004 to the fall of 2010, in excess of 300 calls were directed towards the poisons centre of the NHS for issues allied to unfavorable reactions that transpired after drinking caffeinated beverages.
The authors of the report has claimed that is a ''warning call'' for health officials to take some effective moves urgently for the sake of educating the public regarding the risks linked to high-energy drinks. In addition, they are of the opinion that the government must make it mandatory for beverage manufacturers to display a health label of warning just like those available on over-the-counter tablets that contain caffeine as an active compound.
While expressing concerns regarding the issue, one of the lead researchers of the study, a clinical senior lecturer at the University of Sydney and the medical director and toxicologist at the NSW Poisons Information Centre, Naren Gunja, said: “Consumers are likely to be unaware of the variation in chemical composition and caffeine dosage in energy drinks, and with little or no warnings on products, the potential for overdose remains ever-present”.
As per reports, a massive surge in call volumes related to caffeinated energy drinks has been seen over a period of time. While there were just 12 such calls made in 2004, the year 2010 witnessed more than 65 such calls.