Energy drinks have often been described as drinks that have potentially dangerous health consequences, the dangers lying in the high levels of caffeine contained in them.
For this and other reasons, the House of Representatives on Tuesday moved to ban the importation and sale of caffeinated drinks, popularly known as ‘energy drinks’, in the country.
Following a motion sponsored by a member, Yacoob Bush-Alebiosu, the house directed its Joint Committee on Health/Commerce to investigate the importation and distribution of the drinks.
According to Punch, Bush-Alebiosu listed Germany, Norway, France and Denmark among some of the countries that had banned the sale of the drinks in their jurisdiction “as a result of health risks caused by the consumption of energy drinks, including reported cases of deaths.”
He said that research conducted by the Cardiovascular Research Centre at the Royal Adeliade Hospital and Adeliade University in Southern Australia reveals a link between students consuming a particular brand of energy drink and the unstable state of their hearts.
Bush-Alebiosu added that many brands of the drinks had flooded the country, as consumers were also mixing them with alcoholic drinks. The drinks are now first choice beverages among young people, especially on campuses, bars, clubs and social functions across the country.
He said, “These drinks are being mixed with alcoholic drinks and become more deadly as they tend to mask the level of intoxication already settled in the bodies of the consumers of this mixture, thereby allowing young adults to consume much more alcohol than normal, which often times lead to young people passing out after such in-take and also an increase in road accidents involving such people.”
