T.O. Energy Drink May Pose a Health Risk ('Crazy' Seems Like a Logical Side Effect)

Terrell Owens is the proud new endorser of an energy drink. Woo. It's called "Venom", it is marketed "for delivering piercing energy that strikes back" and it's made by Dr. Pepper and Snapple. So, clearly at first glance, it seems like a worthwhile product that pretty much everyone in America should be guzzling at every possible occasion.

Or perhaps not. It seems, as Darren Rovell notes, that the drink may have some health risks associated with it.

[...]a group of researchers at Johns Hopkins said that energy drinks should carry warning labels that site potential health risks.

The risks cited are what you might expect of any product that has an intense amount of caffeine, including rapid heart rate, anxiety and difficulty sleeping.

Venom seems to have the standard amount of caffeine as compared to other energy drinks. I say the word "seems" because the amount of caffeine is not listed on the bottle...

Now, in fairness, most energy drinks have health risks associated with them. After all, slugging caffeine all day works fantastically in the short run, but we don't have a clue of what the long term effects could/will be. Especially when you factor in the common societal notion that tons of kids are drinking pounding energy drinks these days.

Also, there are some conflicting reports out there -- the American Beverage Association is trying to point out that if anything, we should be lashing out at all the evil coffee houses that are the real peddlers of caffeine in unmarked quantities that are dangerous for our country.

I, for one, would disagree with the ABA, simply because people have been pounding java for years and while our society might be screwed on sideways, I don't think Colombian beans are to blame. As for Red Bull, et al, well, the jury's still out on that group in terms of health hazards.