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Red Bull

The recent discovery of traces of cocaine in Red Bull has caused public concern about energy drinks. But, even without the illegaladditives, how healthy are energy drinks?

This is our reporter Li Dong.

Reporter:

Energy drinks are soft drinks designed to increase a user's mental alertness and physical performance through the addition of caffeine, vitamins, salt, herbs or other supplements. Some customers have no concern about their safety. Lin Yuan is one of them:

"The pace of life in cities is very fast. Drinks like red bull help me out during night shifts or when I'm under heavy pressure. I assume they are safe since they are still on the market shelves. Potential dangers are everywhere, you can't be cautious about everything."

However customer Cao Jing has different ideas about energy drinks:

"Usually I drink them only after working out in the gym or mountain climbing. I think they are supposed to be different from common soft drinks, but I don't know exactly how."

A recent survey shows that more than 60 percent of the 900 participants only have a vague understanding of what energy drinks do; and 30 percent are not aware of the difference between energy drinks and normal drinks. Some respondents said they even consume these drinks in place of water.

Gao Huiying of the Chinese Nutrition Society warns:

"Drinking too much energy drinks will overload your body with additives like salt, sugar or caffeine. It could cause a number of side effects including high blood pressure, obesity, stomach upsets and abnormal heart rhythms."

Gao Huiying says some energy drinks are not recommended for children and some should not be taken by people with heart disease. But now most energy drink products have no specific guidelines or warnings on their packaging. And so far China has no detailed regulation on energy drink classification.

Nutritionist Gao Huiying suggests:

"Water is the best drink. The nutrition offered in energy drinks is far less than that in fresh food. For example: the protein in "fruit milk" is only one-third of that in real milk. Why do we not just drink fresh milk and eat fruit?"

The price of energy drinks can be up to triple those of common soft drinks, yet many companies rush into this market without sufficiently testing their product.

China's first food safety law took effect this Monday and aims to strengthen supervision of companies making consumable products. Media commentators say the Red Bull incident could be the first chance for the law to demonstrate its authority.