Energy Drink Essay

In the United States alone there are a large number of people who are addicted to many substances. Many people like to shake-a-stick at those who consume legal or illegal drugs or to those who consume alcoholic beverages. Meanwhile, some of these critical people fail to realize that they are guilty of the same problem of addiction. In this case, it is being addicted to beverages that give a supplemental energy boost which is also known as the energy drink. The energy drink hit the scene in the late nineteen-nineties but has seen substantial growth since the mid two-thousands. In the beginning of the energy drink craze, companies often targeted adolescents, college students, and young adults. Companies promised that the performance of the consumer
Energy drinks typically have an eyebrow-raising amount of caffeine and sugar. It is also noted that they do not fall into any issues against FDA or USDA regulations, by default (FDA.gov, par. 4). This is due to the fact that all ingredients, as they are listed in their basic names, are not required to list their attributes. For example, “Guarana” is listed ingredient but is simply another source of caffeine. As such, despite passing preliminary product requirements, there are unforeseen issues that arise after these products have been released to the public. An article in The New York Times written by Barry Meier states, “the number of emergency department visits involving energy drinks doubled from 10,068 visits in 2007 to 20,783 visits in 2011” (nytimes.com, par. 3). There have also been issues in which youth, teens and collegiate aged adults who have consumed many energy drinks and have succumbed to events from sleeplessness all the way to cardiac events (Scanchis-Gomar, par.
In an article on CaffeineInformer.com, most sugared energy drinks, of 8 ounces to 16 ounces, could contain anywhere from 1g all the way to 94 grams of sugar: most of which fell between 11g – 45g (CaffieneInformer.com, par. 1-7). The maximum allowable daily recommended intake for sugar by the World Health Organization is currently 25grams (Jaslow, par. 2). As stated earlier, energy drinks, on average, contain nearly the maximum recommended amount of sugar per unit sold. Unfortunately, the average consumer does not heed such information prior to consuming energy drinks. Also, unfortunately, this can often lead to overconsumption and to a possible onset of