The study, co-authored by David Hammond, professor at the School of Public Health and Health Systems at the University of Waterloo, finds that half of young people who have consumed energy drinks have experienced health effects that are negative–ranging from rapid heartbeat and nausea to–in some cases–seizures.
The Waterloo researchers surveyed 2,055 Canadians between the ages of 12 and 24 and found that about 74 per cent (73.8) said they had consumed energy drinks at least once in their life and 55.4 per cent reported experiencing a negative health effect.
Canadian Beverage Association President Jim Goetz
(Courtesy: Canadian Beverage Association)
(Other findings: 24.7 per cent experienced rapid heartbeat, 24.1 per cent experienced having trouble sleeping, 18.3 per cent experienced headaches, 5.1 per cent reported nausea, vomiting or diarrhea, 3.6 per cent reported experiencing chest pains and 0.2 per cent reported having a seizure.)
When the study was released, the Canadian Beverage Association issed a written statement calling the study “misleading,” citing research by Health Canada, the European Food Safety Authority and the United States Food and Drug Administration.
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
European Food Safety Authority
The CBA says those studies “deemed caffeine and more specifically, non-alcoholic caffeinated energy drinks (CEDs) to be safe for consumption by youths and adults.”
Jim Goetz is the president of the Canadian Beverage Association.
I spoke with him by phone at his Toronto office on Monday.
ListenThe Canadian Beverage Association is pushing back on study on the dangers of so-called energy drinks published last week in the Canadian Medical Association Journal Open
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