Throughout the years, energy drinks have been perceived as an attractive beverage and as of recently, has insinuated into the lives of a range of demographic groups including youth, ethnic groups and athletes. “Energy Drinks” manufacturers entered the beverage market utilizing an advertising route, dignifying the various inimitable elements featuring health claims linking their ability to restore energy and alertness . The lack of regulatory oversight has caused a marketing blitz of this popular beverage and has drawn concern from health activists and has caused regulators, specifically Health Canada to regulate caffeine content in such beverages stringently. In a recent study, it was found in a study at a university, 39 percent of students had consumed at least one energy drink in the past month, with considerably higher rates for men . While health officials have attempted to publicize the detrimental effects in the consumption of these beverages, manufacturers have contended there is a lack of empirical proof that the caffeine content in their drinks is harmful. This paper will spotlight the need for regulation on the caffeine content of these beverages based on the concepts of risk assessment and risk management. Furthermore, the need for an ex ante and post strategy from a risk assessment standpoint will be proposed in order for regulators to proactively standardize the acceptable range of caffeine concentrations of energy drinks and to effectively redress harm in the context of their use as a beverage to reinforce regulators’ concern for public safety.
Energy Drinks were originally regulated under Natural Health Product Regulations and therefore did not require companies to disclose side effects and sugar content in the nutritional labelling. However from a risk assessment standpoint, it was foreseeable that consumers would be at risk and Health Canada