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Herbal Drink Dangers
Tuesday
June 26, 2001
A whole new line of tasty teas and caffeine cocktails are pumping people up. But before you drink up, listen up. The FDA is recalling 13 types of herbal drinks made by the Blue Light Company because they contain an acid that can cause kidney failure.
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But it's not just Blue Light products, consumers need to be careful with all energy drinks.
In them things like St. John's Wort, Kava, Guarana, ginseng, taurine, ephedrine, and a variety of vitamins and herbs promising to soothe aches and pains and cure everything from impotence to unhappiness.
Sure these drinks pack a powerful punch; they're full of stimulants. Most of the ingredients are artificial, but some of the side effects can be pretty sobering.
"Ephedrine is very powerful," says registered dietitian Roberta Terry.
Powerful enough she says to cause health problems like high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, seizures and on this "Speed Stack" label it even warns against death.
Terry says, "Why would anyone want to drink this when on the label it says ‘death’?"
But lots of people are drinking these products, especially young people. The market has nearly doubled in the past four years and makes up nearly 20 percent of the 52-billion dollar soft drink industry.
Even marketing giants like Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Snapple, and Proctor and Gamble are cashing in on the latest drink craze.
They may give you a quick jolt, but because the stimulants don't have FDA approval, you better study the label before you take a swig.
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