The French Have Put Red Bull Back on Sale
In spite of any evidence of danger from drinking Red Bull Energy drink, it has been banned in France until this week. The fear is based on the ingredient taurine which appears to be innocuous and is present in the human body even in those who don’t drink energy drinks.
Energy drink Red Bull is back in its original recipe in France’s store shelves for the first time on Tuesday, implementing European union regulations that state that it should be put on sale given the absence of any proof that it is harmful.
The drink had been banned in France for twelve years due to French health authorities’ concerns about unknown consequences of the ingredient taurine, a chemical forbidden in several countries.
Until now a different version of the drink, containing caffeine but not taurine, was available in France.
The French government finally had to legalize the beverage because the European Union rules state that a product made or sold in other EU countries cannot be banned if it has no proven risks.
The French health authorities still remained worried about Red Bull’s safety because of the high levels of taurine and caffeine, suspected of causing neurophysiological problems.
One prominent feature of the new cans that went on sale on Tuesday was a logo promoting the beverages unique selling point: “taurine formula.”
According to animal studies, taurine produces a mild anxiolytic effect and may act as an anti-anxiety agent in the central nervous system
In recent years, taurine has become a popular ingredient in energy drinks. Taurine is often used in combination with other performance enhancing substances, such as creatine and anabolic steroids. Due to recent findings in mice that taurine can alleviate muscle fatigue in strenuous workouts and raises exercise capacity, it may have some mild benefits.
Taurine is present in some contact lens solutions.
Taurine has also been shown in diabetic animals to decrease weight and lower blood sugar. According to research, it has no effect on insulin secretion or insulin sensitivity in humans. There is evidence that taurine could exert a beneficial effect in preventing diabetes-associated vascular disease and kidney injury in diabetic nephropathy.
In humans suffering from essential hypertension, taurine supplements caused a measurable decrease in blood pressure.
[...] Edmund Lohâ??s Personal Homepage wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThe French Have Put Red Bull Back on Sale In spite of any evidence of danger from drinking Red Bull Energy drink, it has been banned in France until this week. The fear is based on the ingredient taurine which appears to be innocuous and is present in the human body even in those who don’t drink energy drinks. Energy drink Red Bull is back in its original recipe in France’s store shelves for the first time on Tuesday, implementing European union regulations that state that it should be put on [...]