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Jon Benninger

Jon Benninger is the vice president of business development for the Health & Nutrition Network at VIRGO. He works on new products, international efforts, industry outreach and advocacy, content development, partnerships and collaborations, and strategic planning. Jon volunteers for many industry associations, committees and initiatives, is a frequent speaker and moderator at industry events, and assists VIRGO clients with solutions and strategies.. He joined VIRGO in 1995 and has served as editor, publisher, and group publisher prior to his current position. He earned a degree in journalism at Arizona State University.

Are energy drinks under attack

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Posted in Blog, Topics, Adverse Event Reporting (AERs), Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act (DSHEA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Food Safety, Sports Nutrition
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Remember ephedra? It was a long, slow process that FDA undertook to finally remove this herb from the market (even though the agency had the authority to take action much earlier but chose not to do so). Similar rumblings are starting to appear around the "energy drink" category. FDA expressing concerns and issuing guidance on the subject. The word "safety" is being thrown about. And now we are seeing media reports of consumers who claim to have been injured (great for the personal injury lawyers). What does it all mean? Well first of all, it does not mean that energy drinks are necessarily unsafe. There are a lot of political and financial forces at work, just as in the ephedra case, a case that is still grossly misunderstood. The latest example of the media coverage is from Missouri where a high school student drank two NOS energy drinks and later that night apparently fell asleep, aspirated, and spent 5 days in the hospital after what appears to have been a seizure. A horrible experience for this young man. But before we demonize (or blame) the energy drink and get the personal injury lawyers all excited, let's note that the beverage the young man consumed likely had less caffeine than the same amount of brewed coffee. (Click here to see the data on caffeine content provided on the Mayo Clinic website). The amount of caffeine (not listed in labeling) in one 8-ounce cup of plain old coffee is 95-200mg depending on the coffee beans and the brewing time. The labeled amount of caffeine in the NOS product is 130mg in on 8-ounce serving. So four 8-ounce cups of coffee (and most people drink more than 8 ounces at a serving) could contain up to 800mg of caffeine. I'm not suggesting that putting down 800mg of caffeine is a good idea for anyone, but to report the high levels of caffeine in an energy drink without this perspective makes it hard for the average Joe to understand how much caffeine we are talking about. Keep an eye on this story. It, along with the equally misunderstood "sports performance supplement" story seem to be the leading edges of 2 blades being positioned to cut into DSHEA and dietary supplements.
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