Myth & Snopes.com : Redbull energy drink contains stimulant that causes Brain Tumor!

MYTH :

Ever wondered what's in a can of Redbull Energy drink? The small print lists a host of ingredients and among them is Glucuronolactone, an artificially manufactured stimulant developed in the early 60's by the American Government.

Glucuronolactone was first used in the Vietnam conflict to boost morale amongst GI's who were suffering from stress and fatigue, but was banned after a few years following several deaths and hundreds of cases involving anything from severe migraines to brain tumours in personnel prescribed the stimulant.

That was in 1973 and Glucuronolactone is still banned for commercial consumption in America this day. The bad news is that the substance never found it's way to Europe in the early days and was therefore never banned by the EU community. An article in this months edition of the British Medical Journal has highlighted a growing number of cases reported by Doctors and Surgeons involving the very same side effects from the 70's.

All of the patients examined were regular drinkers of RedBull and it is believed that the safety of Glucuronolactone is currently under review in at least three major European countries.

Please pass this on to any RedBull drinkers you know, and next time you get a headache after drinking the stuff, you'll know why!

FACT:

Glucuronolactone is a naturally-occurring metabolite, a carbohydrate produced by the human metabolic system. It most certainly is not "an artificially manufactured stimulant developed in the early 60's by the American Government," as is claimed in the e-mailed exhortation to foreswear the drink. Yet a can of Red Bull contains 600 mg of the substance per can, which has been suggested is 250 times a person's normal daily intake. No proof has yet emerged that this would pose a danger of any sort, but it is a large enough number in and of itself to evoke concern.

Searches of The British Medical Journal fail to turn up the article described in the warning, belying the e-mail's claim that a piece on this lurking horror recently appeared there. Searches of the Food and Drug Administration's web site also fail to turn up anything about glucuronolactone, a situation unheard of even in the case of drugs or substances that are merely the subjects of questions raised by consumers, let alone ones that are "banned for commercial consumption in America." Were glucuronolactone the raging threat to mankind portrayed in the e-mail, the FDA database would be full to overflowing with articles about it.

The glucuronolactone rumor is not the only one circulated about Red Bull. Other whispers state that the drink is formulated from bull testicles, or that it's been proved to be wildly addictive, or that its drinkers will test positive in drug tests after downing just half a can, or that it shivers on the verge of being banned throughout Europe. With one partial exception, all of these rumors are
untrue.

Though the beverage is not barred from sale in Europe, some countries have indeed banned it, including Denmark, Malaysia, and France. These countries cite concern over the beverage's high level of caffeine.

Red Bull is the trendy drink of the moment among the dance club set. It is also expensive, and this carbonated nectar is sickly sweet. As for the second of the claims that needed to be addressed, Red Bull does contain glucuronolactone. But as we've seen, that ingredient is apparently innocuous.

The beverage was first concocted in Austria in 1987, and is marketed as an energy drink that "improves muscle tone," "increases endurance 25 percent" and "invigorates mind and body." Whatever wildly optimistic health benefits it lays claim to, the drink's current appeal among young people stems from its rumored legendary energy boosting properties, which it gets from its high caffeine content. The caffeine in one can of Red Bull (80 mg) equals that of one cup of black coffee (which varies in caffeine content from 80 to 180 mg depending on how it is prepared). The drink also contains taurine, a derivative of the sulphur-containing amino acid, cysteine. Taurine is often found as an ingredient in infant milk formulas.

Criticisms of the beverage primarily have to do with the amount of caffeine (equivalent to that found in a typical cup of coffee) and sugar (about 5 teaspoons per 250 ml can) contained in the brew. Caffeine is deadly when ingested in a massive dose, but the amount estimated to prove fatal is ten grams, which would require 125 cans of the drink. Disregarding the marketing hype, sugar is no better at giving energy than any other food or drink. The best fluids for rehydration contain just a pinch of salt and sugar, which makes Red Bull a highly unusual sports drink.

Despite whatever conclusions one might draw from the name, Red Bull contains no substances of animal origin. Even the taurine used in the formulation is synthetically produced.

Yet concern remains, fueled by misgivings about the drink's high concentrations of caffeine, a lurking gut feeling that large amounts of taurine might not be beneficial for folks, and suspicion that Red Bull somehow caused four deaths.

In 1991, the deaths of three people in Sweden who expired after drinking Red Bull were reported. Two of the deceased had mixed the drink with alcohol, the other downed it undiluted during rigorous exercise. No direct proof has yet emerged that demonstrates Red Bull is at fault in any of these deaths. In 1999, 18-year-old Irish basketball player Ross Cooney drank three Red Bulls before expiring on the court. The coroner attributed the young man's demise to thickened arteries and sudden adult death syndrome, yet due to guilt by association, his having had three cans of Red Bull just before his life ended is perceived by some as the one's having caused the other.


--== Well, I actually fell for this hoax once. I stopped drinking an energy drink before thinking that THIAMINE would also lead to brain tumors. This is just one of those strings of bad publicity for energy drinks.

Good Night :)

-dan