Functional drinks, where does the energy come from?

Recently, the simmering Red Bull drink "illegally added the door" to once again push food safety issues to the cusp. A few days ago, the State Food and Drug Administration issued an announcement that "Red Bull has not yet found quality and safety problems," and the storm is a temporary passage.

In recent years, people's doubts about functional drinks have never stopped. This is mainly due to the confusion about their safety. Functional drinks are not drugs but they do have efficacy after drinking. Where does its energy come from? What has been added? When these additives are providing energy, are there side effects...

● Nanfang Daily Ou Zhikui's intern Xu Shaoshen Ayi (a pseudonym) is the technical director of an internet company and often works overtime at night. Every time he works overtime, he will prepare several cans of Red Bull. Work overtime to add dizziness and fatigue, then drink two cans. It's strange to say it. After drinking, it quickly fades into fatigue and is full of spirit.

Why does the beverage have such magical functions of refreshing? Ah Yi is a bit puzzled and has a bit of worries - do not know what "energy" this drink adds?

Functional beverage energy comes from the additive "The energy of the functional beverage is mainly derived from the various ingredients it adds, such as various healthy amino acids, vitamins and minerals from artificial synthesis." Food Safety Expert, Executive Vice-President of International Food Packaging Association President and General Secretary Dong Jinshi said.

This is also illustrated in the introduction of Red Bull Beverage China. According to it, the reason why Red Bull drinks can "refreshing" is due to the addition of taurine, lysine, caffeine and other functional factors, while assisted by B vitamins, inositol, niacinamide, etc. The metabolism. “Taurine and caffeine can make the central nervous system active, and caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant that can temporarily drive away drowsiness and restore energy. Taurine can promote nutrient metabolism and participate in neuroendocrine regulation. , enhance myocardial contractility."

Dong Jinshi said that in fact, according to China's "Beverage General" (GB10789-2007) classification, there is no "functional drinks" to say, commonly known as "functional drinks" actually belong to special-purpose beverages, that is, by adjusting the composition and content of nutrients in drinks, Or add beverages with specific functional ingredients to meet the needs of certain special groups.

Special-purpose beverages fall into three categories: According to reports, special-purpose beverages can be divided into three categories:

One type of sports drink is represented by Gatorade, Jin Run, and screaming. This type of beverage is mainly supplemented with potassium, sodium or other electrolytes or sugar, vitamins and other nutrients, "The exercise caused the body to sweat a lot, resulting in a large loss of potassium, sodium and other electrolytes, electrolytes added to the beverage is beneficial to supplement sodium and potassium, and Helps water stay in the blood vessels, so that the body gets more moisture." Dong Jinshi said.

One is a nutrient beverage, that is, adding an appropriate amount of food fortifier to supplement the special nutritional needs of certain people. This type of beverage is represented by pulsating, Cola-Cola's Cola Vitamin Water, and probiotic beverages. The function of this kind of drink mainly comes from artificially synthesized various healthy amino acids, vitamins and minerals.

Another category is special-purpose beverages. Drinks prepared to meet the needs of special populations are represented by Red Bull, Top-up, and Health Care.

“If there are signs of health foods on the packaging of special-purpose beverages, it is certified by the state and there are one or more of 18 health-care items, including anti-fatigue functions.” Jiang Zhuoqin, Professor of Nutrition, Department of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University Stressed that the special purpose beverages represented by Red Bull, its anti-fatigue effect mainly comes from the added caffeine, taurine and other ingredients, but it can only alleviate fatigue in the short term. "Health foods can only play a role in health care and cannot cure diseases."

Worry one:

Drinks with caffeine can be addicted to long-term drinking?

In recent years, consumer complaints about functional beverages have continued, and the main reason why Red Bull is repeatedly questioned is precisely the caffeine, which is the main component of its “stimulating and refreshing” role. It is reported that in Canada, the formula of Red Bull beverage has removed caffeine and taurine. In Denmark, Norway and France, Red Bull can only be sold in pharmacies because it contains high doses of coffee. In China, Red Bull is a special formula approved by the Ministry of Health. Its caffeine content is as high as 200PPM, which is higher than the national standard of 150ppm Caffeine in beverages.

“Many functional beverages are more spiritual and claim to relieve fatigue. In fact, they rely on the role of caffeine.” Yuan Xiao, editor-in-chief of the Nutshell Network Health Channel, said that caffeine can provide short-term brain excitement, stimulate physical potential, and produce anti-fatigue effects. . However, in the long run, the best option is to rest and relax. “Brightly leveraging functional beverages will only result in dependence on functional beverages, and may even cause nausea, diarrhea, mental anxiety and insomnia.”

It is reported that caffeine is a food additive approved for use in China's national food safety standards and has a certain refreshing effect. It is also widely found in natural foods. For example, daily coffee, tea and other foods contain a certain amount of caffeine. , Usually a cup of green tea contains about 30mg of caffeine. Yuan Yu said: "Caffeine is found in many beverages. For example, tea and cola contain caffeine, but whether they are addicted depends on the amount of the human body's intake."

"Usage of caffeine will produce dependence, and long-term and high-dose use will lead to addiction." Jiang Zhuoqin pointed out that the caffeine and other ingredients added to the general beverage is trace, and they are also the weakest refreshing agent, "We drink tea There is also caffeine, so it is not addictive."

Worry two:

Different ingredients in the formula will produce psychotropic drugs?

Another concern for consumers of functional beverages is that different ingredients in their formula may produce sodium saccharine. In clinical practice, sodium sulphate is used directly after caffeine and sodium benzoate are mixed, and some functional beverage formulations such as Red Bull and Diet Coke have these two components.

In 2004, consumers in the country reported to Coca-Cola’s Diet Coke that they contained sodium benzoate and caffeine. Coca-Cola responded at the time: "Caffeine and sodium benzoate are all approved additives. At low levels, they will not produce pharmacological effects on the human body and will not produce sodium, sodium and coffee."

According to Yuan Zhen, China's Announcement of the list of psychoactive drugs announced in 2007 will classify it as the second category of psychotropic drugs. “Ansalca coffee is actually a mixture of sodium benzoate and caffeine. It is an injection. It is used clinically for anesthesia-induced respiratory failure and circulatory failure. It requires quick action and must be injected intravenously.”

The issue of whether the presence of both caffeine and sodium benzoate in beverages will produce anaerobic sodium, the National Food and Drug Administration explained a few days ago that it is impossible to produce sodium benzoate: “1 serving of caffeine plus 1 serving of sodium benzoate is not an ounce of sodium coffee. Only when the two substances are made according to the prescriptions and related requirements specified by the national drug standards can they be called sodium anaetna."

Yuan Hao also said that although there are mixed caffeine and sodium benzoate in Red Bull, but because the drink is taken orally, the onset time will be very long, the blood volume will be greatly reduced, and the dose in the drink is much lower than the drug content. "The role of sodium benzoate as a food additive is a preservative, and it should also play a role in Red Bull."

Functional beverages â–  Link function Beverages are beverages that regulate body functions to a certain degree by adjusting the proportions and amounts of nutrients in drinks. The broad functional beverage classification includes sports (sports food) beverages, energy (energy food) beverages, and other health-care (health food) beverages. In 1966, Red Bull was born in Thailand is the world's first brand of energy drinks. In 1995, Red Bull entered China.

The period of rapid development of Chinese functional beverages began after the SARS in 2003. When the SARS panic faded, the public has followed their health with unprecedented enthusiasm and the immune-boosting functional beverage has seen a trend of consumer blowouts. China's functional beverage market has also seen Red Bull outshone itself since 2000, and it has now developed into a dominant group.

Currently in the Chinese market, vitamin beverages, sports drinks and special function beverages are the most popular ones, mainly for refreshing and supplementing nutrients.

Functional beverages only apply to specific populations Consumers need to be careful when choosing special-purpose beverages. â– Explanation from experts However, although functional beverages have a variety of beneficial functions, many nutrition and food experts point out that consumers are choosing these special-purpose beverages. Need to be extra careful.

According to Jiang Zhuoqin, Red Bull and other functional beverages are only suitable for special populations, such as those who are tired but need to continue to work, and can only have short-term effects and are detrimental to the long-term health of the human body. Other people who do not have such needs do not need to use such beverages, "especially pregnant women and children who are growing and growing, they cannot drink such beverages."

“Not all people are suitable for functional beverages.” According to Yuan Wei, in 2008, researchers at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, United States, found that high levels of caffeine and taurine could increase blood pressure and heart rate and affect heart function. This means that this type of beverage may not be suitable for people with high blood pressure or irregular heart rhythms.

“For people with diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity, whether or not to choose a functional beverage also requires some consideration. In addition, the elderly, children, and people who are allergic to caffeine are not suitable for drinking.” Yuan Xiao said that some functional beverages, Sugar content is too high, on the human body but play a diuretic effect, accelerate the kidneys to drain water.

It was found that some functional beverages have obtained health food identities such as Red Bull, Li Baojian, and Bran Blueberry Drink. The National Food and Drug Administration pointed out that health foods are different from ordinary foods and are only suitable for specific groups of people.

According to the National Food and Drug Administration, health foods are a special type of food that is bound between other foods and medicines. Health foods emphasize specific health care functions, while other foods emphasize the provision of nutrients. Health foods have specific and inappropriate populations according to their health care functions, while other foods generally do not distinguish between them. At the same time, health foods have a prescribed amount of consumption, while other foods generally do not have a demand for dosage.

â–  Related Beverage Additives How many Aspartan do you know? In 2009, the Venezuelan Ministry of Health announced that it would stop selling Coca-Cola Zero in the country due to its potential carcinogenic aspartame. The domestic consumer market has also caused a panic.

Aspartame is a type of sweetener that is about 200 times sweeter than ordinary sugar and has less calories, and is therefore widely used as a substitute for sucrose. Subsequently, the Ministry of Health rumored that the use of aspartame in food is safe. According to reports, Aspartame is currently approved by nearly 100 countries around the world as Sweeteners and flavor enhancers for Food Additives, which have been approved by some countries for more than 20 years.

In terms of carcinogenicity, although animal studies have reported that it has induced animal tumors, the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives under the UN Food Codex Committee, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the EU Food Science Council, and other official assessments believe that aspartame is Animals have no carcinogenic effect.

Methyl paraben In July 2011, relevant Taiwan authorities detected the methyl paraben preservative that Taiwan prohibited the incorporation of carbonated beverages in the zero Coca-Cola stock solution base ingredients from Shanghai Coca-Cola Beverage Company. Subsequently, the cola liquid was banned from Taiwan.

On July 19 last year, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health Deng Haihua stated to the media that methyl paraben was a legitimate food additive in mainland China. “In addition to Taiwan, it is legal in the mainland, Hong Kong, and the United States.” The cola liquid that was detected in Taiwan was in line with the standards in the mainland. As soon as the news came out, it has also caused widespread questioning.

Fan Zhihong, an associate professor at China Agricultural University, pointed out that methyl paraben is a preservative that can be added to carbonated beverages in the Mainland. "The state stipulates that the maximum allowable amount of methyl paraben per kg of drink is 1 g."

"Plasticizer"

In April 2011, Taiwan exposed a variety of beverages containing “plasticizers,” and the incident shocked the global food industry. The plasticizer “phthalate ester” is a kind of plasticizer commonly used in plastics. A large amount of food may affect the liver and kidneys and even cause cancer.

In the early days, Taiwan's spot checks may contain five types of foods such as sports drinks, fruit juices, teas, jam jelly, and capsules in powdered form, which may contain “clouding agents (ie, plasticizers)”, but as of June 2011 The number of products contaminated with plasticizers in Taiwan has reached 1002. The incident has also gradually warmed up to international food safety incidents. The United States, Canada, and other countries require Taiwan products to issue safety inspection certificates before they can be allowed to import.

In June 2011, some foods and medicines in the Mainland and Hong Kong were also tested for plasticizers, which once again caused people's concern. According to China's "Hygienic Standards for Container Packaging of Food Devices," the regulations stipulate that the limit for the dissolution of DEHP is 1.5 ppm or less, and foods must not be added. According to conventional practice, the daily tolerable daily dose of 60 kilograms of adult adults ranges from 1.2 to 8.4 milligrams. Within this standard, the body will metabolize it out of the body in the form of urine and feces.

Cocaine In June 2009, Red Bull drinks produced in Austria were found to contain traces of cocaine in Germany and Taiwan. Subsequently, there were also 3 Red Bull drinks detected in Hong Kong containing cocaine, which was 10 times higher than in Taiwan. At that time, the domestic Red Bull Company issued a statement saying: “The Red Bull vitamin drinks produced in the Mainland and China Taiwan and Austria have the same formula, but the Red Bull products in the Mainland will not contain cocaine.”

Cocaine, the most powerful natural central stimulant, can cause rapid rhythm, shortness of breath, vomiting, tremor, convulsions, and convulsions. Large doses can cause death.

Sodium benzoate caffeine In February of this year, Heilongjiang media reported that the various additives that Red Bull was suspected of adding, such as sodium benzoate and carmine, were not involved in the SFDA's approval of Red Bull. In addition, some consumers questioned that the sodium benzoate in Red Bull Beverage together with caffeine may generate the national second class psychoactive drug Angar.

In this regard, China Red Bull said that there is no illegal addition of food additives, China Red Bull has been tested by the national authoritative testing agencies and local law enforcement inspections, the results are qualified.

On February 15th, the State Food and Drug Administration issued a notice that the sampling inspection showed that Red Bull products were not illegally added and met the regulations. No quality and safety problems have been found.

As for whether the use of both sodium benzoate and caffeine contained in Red Bull Beverage will cause harm, the State Food and Drug Administration explained that “these two raw materials are used in accordance with the approved usage, and are in compliance with relevant state regulations”, and stress that “ It is safe for consumers to use the labels according to the requirements of the appropriate population, food methods and food consumption."