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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."
They would of course have a very small amount in the drink. Not enough to break laws, but enough to make people go "Lets get this! It's cocaine!" if it would ever be discovered. Marketing at its best folks.
Coca cola already contains real Coca, with the cocaine removed. There is only one company licensed to import Coca leafs into the US, and as far as I'm aware they only sell the extract to Coca Cola.
Nice way to get a legal monopoly on that special "Coca Cola" flavor, no?
"In prison you just have to shut your eyes and take it. Here you have to shut your eyes and give it."
I would imagine, since we're talking about nanogram amounts per liter, the expenditure would have to far exceed what they'd pay if they obtained it from a drug dealer.
Should be easy enough to calculate:
Pure cocaine sells for, let's say, $30,000 per kg. To get a kilogram of cocaine from RedBull would take 2.5 billion liters, or roughly 7 billion 12 oz cans. A 24-case of Red Bull seems to cost about $34.80, or $1.45 per can.
In other words, to get 1 kg of cocaine from Red Bull would cost $10 billion, not to mention the enormous expense of purification. And all this would only be worth $30,000. It would cost 340,000 times more for the Red Bull than the cocaine would be worth.
As you said, the numbers don't exactly add up. Not even close.
Less than one molecule per liter? That's the homeopathic equivalent to a placebo. The strong stuff is measured in molecules per cubic lightyear. Boy, it sure is a good thing we as a civilization don't treat health problems magic water, huh?
The money in your wallet probably has trace amounts of cocaine, too.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.