Durbin, Blumenthal ask FDA to review energy drinks quickly

Some legislators are concerned with the way energy drinks can affect young consumers, especially in light of news reports linking several deaths with energy drink use.

Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., are urging the Food and Drug Administration to move quickly to review the safety of these drinks.

"There is very clearly a lack of understanding about the health effects of energy drinks and their ingredients, especially on children and adolescents,” Durbin and Blumenthal said in a statement Tuesday. “I am glad to see that the FDA is undertaking a review, but more needs to be done and quickly,” the senators said. “For instance, [the] FDA can and should take action now to regulate energy drinks that are marketed as beverages, like Red Bull, which has more than the standard of 71 mg of caffeine per 12 oz., [to] which beverages like Coke and Pepsi are held.”

The lawmakers have requested a meeting with FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg by year’s end to learn more about the FDA’s review.