Cocaine Test Prompts Red Bull Removal In Germany

viyh writes to mention that six German states have mandated pulling Red Bull Cola energy drinks off the shelves after testing found trace amounts of cocaine in the drink. "Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment said Monday that the cocaine level was too low to pose a health risk. It planned to produce a more detailed report Wednesday. Red Bull said its cola is 'harmless and marketable in both the US and Europe.' It said similar coca leaf extracts are used worldwide as flavoring, and a test it commissioned itself found no cocaine traces."

Comments

Bottoms Up.

[Ostracus]

Coca Cola with real Coca.

Re:Bottoms Up.

[MoonBuggy]

Actually Coca-Cola does still contain real coca leaf flavouring. It has the cocaine extracted by Stepan Company before the leaves are passed on to Coca-Cola.

I wouldn't be particularly surprised if the process is less than 100% effective, either. When you're looking at amounts on the order of 10^-9 grams per litre, it's quite possible that any cola with real coca leaves in (don't know how common they are) has always contained traces and nobody's noticed or cared.

Re:So _that's_ how it works...

[John Hasler]

No. That concentration is far too high to qualify as homeopathic. For that you have to get it down to less than one molecule per liter.

Re:In other news...

[xianthax]

67% of dollar bills in this study, and thats south shore mass, i would expect manhattan to step that number up a bit.

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080411/NEWS/804110348

Re:No RedBull for the French either

[voop]

I was surprised, while living in France last year, that RedBull is illegal. I was even more surprised when they told me you can buy Poppers at clothing shops like nothing happens. Any Frenchie care to comment on it??

You asked for it, there you have it. I am not a Frenchie and can't speak for the availability of poppers -- but Red Bull *was* illegal due to its taurin content. The French equivalent of the FDA didn't think that it was possible to determine, based on available studies, if the product was safe, and was citing at the time (if I recall correctly) something about detected hyperactivity in animals who'd consumed high doses of taurine. In April 2008, in a neutered version (arginine instead of taurine and much less caffeine...) was approved for sale in France.

In, I think, later 2008, the unneutered Red Bull entered the French market: this time it was the EU that forced the French to accept it. A product sold in one EU country can legally be imported and sold in an EU country (or something to that effect), and Red Bull was/is sold in many (but not all) EU countries.