It has been more than 25 years since Red Bull entered the market and introduced caffeinated energy drinks in the United States. While the company claimed its drink would give you wings, it never said it was actually good for people.
But as the energy drink market continues to grow rapidly, both new and old companies are trying to attract health-conscious customers with a wave of sugar-free, low-calorie drinks that claim to energize and replenish fluids with electrolytes and other ingredients.
The offering includes drinks from the popular Celsius brand, which has an investment from PepsiCo and uses the “Celsius Live Fit” marketing line. It claims to be made with “healthier ingredients” like ginger, green tea, and vitamins. Similarly, the influencer-backed Prime Energy is sugar-free and contains electrolytes, a main ingredient in most sports drinks.
“They’re all zero sugar or zero calories,” said Jim Watson, a beverage analyst at Rabobank, a bank based in the Netherlands with a focus on food and agriculture. He added that energy drink consumption had increased in part due to the decades-long shift away from sugary sodas. “They go for the healthy image.”
Even Gatorade, which has long marketed beverages to athletes looking to replenish lost fluids or electrolytes after strenuous exercise, is jumping into the caffeine arms race. This year, Gatorade released Fast Twitch, a sugar-free drink in flavors like Strawberry Watermelon and Cool Blue – with a caffeine content equivalent to more than two cups of coffee.
This new focus has helped the energy drink market grow, with sales in the United States rising from $12 billion in the past five years to $19 billion in the past five years, according to Circana, a market research firm.
Last year, PepsiCo paid $550 million for an 8.5 percent stake in Celsius. In May, Celsius said sales in the first quarter of this year were $260 million, double from a year earlier. At that ferocious pace, revenues could exceed $1 billion this year, compared to $314 million just two years ago. Shares of Celsius have skyrocketed to $144 per share from $69 a year ago. Similarly, shares of the beverage company Monster Energy are up 31 percent over the past year.
But there are concerns that drinks pitched as healthy are leading children and teens to consume caffeine in unhealthy amounts.
In March, neon-colored Prime Energy cans began appearing in a lunchroom packed with fourth and fifth graders in Massachusetts’ Wilmington Public School District. The popular drinks were released in January by social media stars Logan Paul and Olajide Olayinka Williams Olatunji, better known as KSI.
For some young students, the Prime Energy drinks, which come in flavors like Strawberry Watermelon and Orange Mango, were delicious liquid gold.
“We even had fourth- and fifth-grade entrepreneurs who brought them to school and sold them to other kids at lunch,” said Rebecca Brown, the district health coordinator.
But the dazzling looks pack a serious punch. A 12-ounce can of Prime Energy contains 200 milligrams of caffeine. That is roughly equivalent to two Red Bulls, two cups of coffee or six cans of Coca-Cola.
Some schools in Britain and Australia have already banned the drinks. In the United States, federal regulations say that schools cannot sell or provide caffeinated beverages to elementary or high school students, although many schools have no restrictions on what students can bring from home.
“Not long after drinking them, the students came to the health office and said they were not feeling well and their hearts were racing,” said Ms Brown, who wrote a note in the school’s weekly email to parents. placed with the energy drinks are not allowed to go to school.
A 12-ounce can of Red Bull contains about 114 milligrams of caffeine — more than three times the amount in a 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola. Prime Energy has more: 200 milligrams in each 12-ounce can. A 16-ounce can of Bang Energy Drink, the size typically sold in convenience stores, contains 300 milligrams of caffeine.
In response to email inquiries, representatives for social media personality Mr. Paul and Prime Energy noted that the company’s cans labeled the drink as “not recommended for children under 18”. But parents and school officials sometimes confuse the drink with Prime Hydration, a caffeinated sports drink from the social media stars that is sold in bottles. That drink is also immensely popular, with sales exceeding $250 million in its first year and customers queuing for hours to buy it at some supermarkets in Britain.
“Everyone thought Red Bull was the epitome of caffeine in energy drinks,” says Dr. Ryan Stanton, an emergency room physician in Lexington, Ky. and experiencing heart palpitations after consuming too much caffeine. “Now some of these drinks have two or three times the caffeine of Red Bull.”
Studies have shown that consuming caffeine can have health benefits, but too much can lead to cardiovascular and stomach problems. Over the years, the Food and Drug Administration has investigated a handful of reports of people dying shortly after consuming energy drinks or five-hour energy shots. But the agency has never made a connection between the two, an FDA spokesperson said in a response to emailed questions.
Adults are advised not to consume more than 400 milligrams of caffeine per day. Pediatricians recommend that young people ages 12 to 18 consume no more than 100 milligrams of caffeine per day, and that children under 12 avoid caffeine completely.
Over the years, efforts have been made to increase government regulation of energy drinks and limit the amount of caffeine allowed in drinks. Lawmakers in several states, including Indiana and Connecticut, have considered banning the sale of energy drinks to minors. But the industry has successfully pushed back, in part by claiming that young people can get caffeine from myriad sources, including soda and coffee. For example, a 16-ounce cinnamon-caramel-cream cold brew from Starbucks contains 265 milligrams of caffeine (not to mention 260 calories).
About a decade ago, the energy drink industry, through its lobbying arm, the American Beverage Association, voluntarily adopted a set of principles, including labeling the amount of caffeine in products and stating on packaging that the drinks were not recommended for children. The industry also agreed not to sell or market its products in schools.
But critics say some energy drinks are clearly marketed to younger customers. Last year, the consumer advocacy group Truth in Advertising said companies like C4 Energy, which sells drinks in flavors like Starburst and Skittles, and Ghost Energy, which sells Sour Patch Kids and Swedish fish-flavored drinks that contain more caffeine than two cups of coffee, were trying to trick minors into to speak.
Dan Lourenco, Ghost’s CEO and co-founder, said in an email that the company’s products are aimed at millennials seeking the nostalgic flavors of their youth. Nutrabolt-owned C4 Energy did not respond to an email asking for comment.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, whose Smart Snacks program sets nutritional standards for foods and beverages sold in schools, said all products sold in elementary and middle schools must be decaffeinated. But for drinks sold in high schools, there are restrictions on calorie counts, but none on caffeine levels.
In addition, the FDA has no specific regulations around “energy drinks” as it is a marketing term. A spokesperson for the agency added in an email that companies are still responsible for including a safe amount of caffeine in beverages.
Chloe Fitzgibbon, 17, who graduated in May from Lincoln Southeast High School in Lincoln, Neb., questioned whether the school cafeteria should sell energy drinks in an article published last year on the website of the school newspaper, The Clarion. Ms. Fitzgibbon noted that the school was selling Mountain Dew’s version, Kickstart, and said students chose the drink not only for the energy boost, but also for the convenience of purchasing it through their student accounts.
The high school cafeteria sells a number of caffeinated beverages, including Kickstart, which contains 68 milligrams of caffeine in a 12-ounce can, and Bubbl’r, sparkling water with 69 milligrams of caffeine in a 12-ounce can. Mindy Burbach, a spokeswoman for Lincoln Public Schools, said in an email that students were limited to buying two caffeinated drinks a day.
“When I took an early morning class, AP Psych, almost everyone came in with a cup of coffee or bought the energy drinks we sell at school,” Ms. Fitzgibbon said.
Pasco County Schools, a Florida district just north of Tampa, also offers Kickstart drinks to high school students in their vending machines. But Stephen Hegarty, a spokesman for the district, noted that PepsiCo, which owns the brand, marketed the drink as an “enhanced soft drink,” not an “energy drink.” PepsiCo declined to comment.
“If you go to one of our high schools, you see students walking in with Starbucks, and some of those drinks have a lot of caffeine,” said Mr. Hegarty. “I’m not sure what the definition of an energy drink is these days.”
