Geoff Lyons (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in the House tonight to speak and to grieve about energy drinks and their use in Australia. Many parents have raised concerns with my office about energy drinks and their worrying health effects. I am not proposing a ban on energy drinks but what I do suggest is that we encourage people to make better choices and to know the health risks associated with high-caffeine, high-sugar drinks. Mixing these drinks with alcohol is a recipe for disaster. The high sugar content of drinks has been linked to tooth erosion. A recent study, conducted by the Australian Dental Association with consumer group Choice, found that energy drinks had a higher acid level than most other fizzy drinks. Unlike tooth decay, that is caused by bacteria, acid can directly damage the enamel surface of teeth, causing dental erosion.

It is claimed that energy drinks help boost energy levels substantially and keep individuals alert and active for longer periods than usual. The drinks are targeted largely at teenagers and young adults, and are readily available in grocery stores, local shops, vending machines, pubs and clubs. What is most worrying to me, however, is that they are being sold in cans or large bottles, up to 1.25 litres, and marketed towards young people. While the products are often promoted as relatively harmless drinks, in reality energy drinks can be quite harmful when consumed regularly. Studies have shown that consumption of energy drinks over an extended period can result in problems such as elevated blood pressure, increasing anxiety levels, insomnia and heart palpitations.

Energy drinks often contain very large amounts of caffeine. Caffeine is not only addictive; it is also a diuretic when consumed in excessive amounts. It can trigger severe dehydration. We know that this becomes even more of a problem when energy drinks are combined with alcohol. In pubs and clubs across Australia drinks made with energy drinks are commonplace on hotel cocktail menus. A report of comments by Professor Chris Semsarian, a prominent Sydney cardiologist based at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, states:

The high caffeine content in popular beverages such as Red Bull, Mother and V, combined with additives such as Guarana or Taurine, is known to speed up the heart and raise blood pressure.

For someone with an underlying heart condition, this combination of ingredients could have a potentially lethal effect, Prof. Semsarian said.

Deaths are known to have occurred following consumption of these drinks, including, recently, a 19-year-old Victorian woman. I feel that the manufacturers of these drinks need to demonstrate a sense of responsibility by ensuring that risks associated with this category of drinks are minimised and discouraging or restricting their consumption by those below a certain age.

In 2010 the USA prohibited the sale of premixed alcohol energy drinks. Manufacturers were notified that they were engaged in potentially illegal marketing of unsafe alcoholic drinks. It is important to know that the health issues with energy drinks are not always life-threatening but they should not be overlooked, either. Until further research becomes available, consumers should be wary of energy drinks, according to doctors and researchers. University of Tasmania PhD student Amy Peacock recently released the results of an Australian first survey that found that young Australians who mix alcohol and energy drinks experience significant physical and psychological effects. Ms Peacock reported that some drinkers are having up to 10 energy/alcohol mixed drinks per night. This is of serious concern. I thank Amy Peacock for conducting this online research, and I hope the study has raised awareness of the issue.

Researchers have studied 56 college students, splitting them into four groups. They drank either an alcoholic beverage, an energy drink, a drink that combined both alcohol and an energy drink, and a drink that did not include either one. They reported that the students who drank the alcohol showed impaired impulse control. Those who drank the alcohol-energy drink, however, thought of themselves as less impaired than those who drank the same amount of alcohol alone. The researchers say this could make people who drink alcohol and energy drinks together more likely to do something like risky driving while drunk. The combination of energy and alcohol drinks is especially dangerous as the energy drinks have about three times as much caffeine as cola, making them extremely stimulating. It is noted that the danger of combining the caffeine and alcohol is that caffeine may make a person less aware of the alcohol's effect. The energy drinks do not change the level of a person's impairment from alcohol, just their perception of it.

Energy drinks in Australia are one of the most stringently regulated categories of all world markets—and rightly so. Energy drinks must comply with the labelling provisions of the code with regard to content disclosure and recommended daily usage and advisory statements that the product is not suitable for children or pregnant or lactating women. Health experts are concerned about the trend of combining energy drinks with alcohol. According to an April 2006 study in the medical journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, the addition of caffeine can make alcohol users feel less drunk, but motor coordination and visual reaction time are just as impaired as when alcohol is drunk by itself. The Australian Medical Association said that mixing energy drinks with alcohol could lead to an increase in drunken night violence—which is the last thing our community needs. Given the potential catastrophic consequences of energy drink consumption among susceptible young individuals greater communication and awareness needs to be promoted to avoid a catastrophe amongst our youth.