Do Energy Drinks Kill? (regular, death, lobby, companies)

[GCharlotte]

Granted an energy drink such as Monster has about 7 times as much caffeine as a standard cola, but per ounce it's about the same as coffee and many people drink several cups of coffee a day.

Is this something the government should be protecting us from? Or age restricting it until say age 21 when we know people become better drinkers?

A 24oz Monster has about 240mg of caffeine.

A Venti brewed coffee from Starbucks has a whopping 410mg.

A large Mocha from McD's has 200mg which is about the same per oz is the Monster.

Is it that these drinks are too sweet (Mtn. Dew has more alories per ounce) and therefore too tempting to our teens to resist? Do these companies run some sort of marketing campaigns to shame kids that don't submit to the buzz?

The allegations in some lawsuits seem to be that if two of these beverages are consumed on the same day, it can kill. While these are sad stories it also appears that some of these kids had underlying physiology problems that helped in their demise.

Monster Energy Drink linked to another teen's death, lawsuit filed - CBS News

I know some schools are starting to test their student athletes as early as middle school so maybe we should just test all kids. If it's the caffeine then I don't see how they'd be saved in the long run if they switched to coffee. Plenty of kids already make Starbucks a regular part of their lives.

So what do you think is going on? How should the energy drink makers be held accountable? How is this fixed and what role should the government play?

[bUU]

Purveyors should be held accountable for their offerings being and doing what their promotion leads their customers to believe they are and do. This means going beyond the mathematical analysis of each written word and sentence taken by themselves, and instead considering the assumptions and perceptions that any significant number of consumers hold with regard to the product. The "image problem" that energy drink makers have created for themselves is evident in how some of their patrons believe that the drink is actually a healthy substitute. While they're not sure precisely why, quite yet, the most trustworthy experts in our society have concluded that it is very likely that energy drinks are not healthy substitutes. During this interim period it makes sense for society to take action to protect children. Once more definitive conclusions are available regarding the risks, it would make sense for society to take action to protect adults.

[GCharlotte]

Originally Posted by bUU

Purveyors should be held accountable for their offerings being and doing what their promotion leads their customers to believe they are and do. This means going beyond the mathematical analysis of each written word and sentence taken by themselves, and instead considering the assumptions and perceptions that any significant number of consumers hold with regard to the product. The "image problem" that energy drink makers have created for themselves is evident in how some of their patrons believe that the drink is actually a healthy substitute. While they're not sure precisely why, quite yet, the most trustworthy experts in our society have concluded that it is very likely that energy drinks are not healthy substitutes. During this interim period it makes sense for society to take action to protect children. Once more definitive conclusions are available regarding the risks, it would make sense for society to take action to protect adults.

I think you're pranking me. And don't forget the cinnamon growers. Whatever they did to convince kids to inhale their product they would be held accountable in the interim period.

[wutitiz]

Post might have been a prank, although I think it's more likely that the poster believes what he/she says. If it was a troll it's a good one.

The best trolls leave the reader in a state of suspense, unsure whether it is a parody, or just an extreme example of the thought process being parodied.

[GCharlotte]

Originally Posted by wutitiz

Post might have been a prank, although I think it's more likely that the poster believes what he/she says. If it was a troll it's a good one.

The best trolls leave the reader in a state of suspense, unsure whether it is a parody, or just an extreme example of the thought process being parodied.

Mhm - the lack of links and names of authorities and complicated sentence structure. Might think the OP was a prank or not serious or maybe I'm lobby for energy drinks.

It's just that if kids are consuming the daily limit quickly and dying but they had an underlying condition what should we do? I'm serious about maybe testing all 6th graders or something because every year we hear of a student athlete dropping dead during practice from similar issues that had no caffeine.