Energy drink or hazard to health?

Highly caffeinated beverages make unwary drinkers violently ill

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Its promoters call it a "freaky scientific breakthrough," a "fat incinerator" that satisfies "your craving for that killer jacked up burst of energy."

But Scott Silliman describes VPX Redline this way: "I'd call it an immobilizer. I'd call it a drug."

Just minutes after washing down a burrito with a second 8-ounce can of the caffeine-laden product he'd bought at a 7-Eleven, the construction worker said, he collapsed, his body shook violently, and his pulse raced.

"I've never felt that way in my life," the 47-year-old said one day after he chugged the fruity, sweet beverage. "I thought I was having a heart attack. I thought I was going to die."

As the $3.4 billion caffeine energy-drink market explodes, apparent overdoses of the products are adding up, too, with an increasing number of calls to poison control centers and visits to hospital emergency rooms.

"All over-the-counter medication, including caffeine drinks and supplements, are becoming widely abused by minors and adults alike," said Dr. Kenneth Scott Whitlow, a toxicologist and emergency room doctor at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center and director of that state's poison control program.

Redline's manufacturers, based in Florida, would not answer questions from McClatchy Newspapers.

A study on caffeine abuse presented at the most recent meeting of the American College of Emergency Physicians determined that more than 250 cases of medical complications from caffeine supplements were called in to a Chicago poison center over three years.

Of those, 12 percent ended in hospitalization.

California's poison control center toxicologists have seen similar problems, particularly among people who drank Redline. Concerned about the reported symptoms, they analyzed their data and presented it at the North American Congress of Clinical Toxicology in October, said Judith Alsop, the center's director in Sacramento.

Alsop said the center logged 10 Redline intoxication calls between January 2004 and June 2006. The calls regarded patients ranging in age from 13 to 53; nine were male. While some had ingested a powdered concentrate version of Redline, six had consumed just one 8-ounce can of the ready-to-drink variety.

Their complaints: nausea, vomiting, rapid heartbeat, hypertension, tremors, dizziness and chest pain. Four callers went to hospital emergency rooms.

As energy drinks go, Redline stands out for its caffeine content. But Redline manufacturer VPX Sports Nutrition does not publicize how much caffeine is contained in each can. The Food and Drug Administration does not require drink makers to disclose the amount of caffeine in their products.

But in her research for the California Poison Control Center, toxicologist Kathy Marquardt confirmed with VPX Sports that a single 8-ounce can of Redline contains 250 milligrams of the drug. That's more than three times the caffeine content of the popular Red Bull, which also comes in an 8-ounce can. For comparison, a 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola has 34 milligrams of caffeine.

Redline does carry a warning label, but the type is tiny. The label recommends drinking half of the can per day to gauge tolerance, and never more than one can per day.

Redline's fine print also warns consumers to check with a physician before drinking it if they have any number of ailments. And while the steel blue Redline container boasts "rapid fat loss technology," the same container warns: "Do not use this product if you are more than 15 pounds over weight."