Health Experts Concerned About Reddie Energy’s Caffeine-laced Energy Strips

Health experts are concerned about new caffeine-laced energy strips that have recently hit Australian shelves. Australian company Reddies has entered the lucrative energy-product market with a wafer-thin strip that dissolves in a person’s mouth, allowing the caffeine to be absorbed quickly. The strips are being marketed to students and athletes and has already appeared on the shelves of 170 stores around the country.

Reddie Energy says the product means customers can get a hit of caffeine without consuming the sugar associated with energy drinks. However, the product has concerned health and poisons experts because of its potential for overdose, particularly among children. Cardiologist Chris Semsarian says he is worried about the growing availability of caffeine in the community in general.

“Caffeine can increase your heart rate, it can increase your blood pressure, it can also increase the thickness of the blood in your blood vessels and that can lead to stroke,” Professor Semsarian said. “It can also lead to dependence on caffeine in all different forms, but particularly the fast-acting forms like these strips.”

Each energy strip contains 40 milligrams of caffeine, about the equivalent of a can of cola. They are sold in a pack of five, which equals 200 milligrams – the equivalent of a double espresso.

  Unlike a coffee or cola, which is absorbed slowly through the gut, the caffeine in the strips is said to be absorbed instantly through the mouth. Professor Semsarian says doctors administer treatment to heart attack patients under the tongue because absorption is instant. “It’s not like swallowing a tablet of caffeine when it’s distributed slowly through the body system,” he said. “Having a strip on the tongue [is] a very fast way of delivering what caffeine is – which is a drug – to the body. ”

Health experts are also concerned about the product given the mild diuretic effects of caffeine. People who ingest the strips would not be consuming the liquid typically associated with caffeinated beverages. “It can lead to dehydration and can cause severe problems like kidney failure and other abnormalities like dizziness and concerns of that nature,” Professor Semsarian said. There is also the potential for caffeine overdose among people who combine the strips with routine cups of coffee or energy drinks to quench thirst.

“It’s likely, what we know from other situations like in energy drinks, where young people won’t just have one of these strips – they’re likely to have three or four or likely even the whole packet in one hit to give them a particular buzz,” Professor Semsarian said. “Caffeine is a drug and it can make you dependent. This can lead to highs and lows, it can lead to erratic behaviours, it can cause neurological problems and behavioural problems.”

Reddies Energy Strips general manager Jacqui Nolan-Neylan says the product is a convenient way to consume caffeine and is appropriate for students, shift workers and professional drivers. “There is research in students that caffeine improves memory. Small amounts of caffeine can increase your mental awareness,” she said. “We are not trying to take over energy drinks or be a substitute coffee; it’s just another option to have if and when you want to use it.”

Energy strips ‘not suitable for children’

University of Adelaide pharmacology lecturer Dr Ian Musgrave is concerned about the impact on children if they consumed the product. “You would be worried that children could see these as sweeties and would potentially have all the strips in one go,” he said. “You wouldn’t be giving one double espresso shot to kids. They haven’t got the capacity to metabolise caffeine as well as adults do, so you would find them having tremors, palpitations.”

Dr Musgrave said the products should be kept away from other gums and lolly displays in stores. “The strips do have a warning on the back that it’s not meant to be given to children, but children wandering shops are not likely to read the backs of packets.” Ms Nolan-Neylan said the product was not intended for children and this was written on the packaging. “It’s not suitable for children, pregnant or lactating women, and those sensitive to caffeine.”