Health Committee on June 8th, 2010

[Andreas Kadi]

If I may take that, Denmark, France, and Norway approach the energy drinks as all the member states of the European Union do. There is a common framework for foods in Europe, which is decided on the European level and then implemented on the national level.

In the case of energy drinks, in many member states of the European Union these products have to be approved on a case-by-case basis because of their composition. After looking at the safety information, which is available on these products, and also looking at the EFSA opinion, which came out last year, all these countries you mentioned, Norway, France, and Denmark, authorized these products to be marketed.

What is interesting to know is that there is also no legal requirement to look at adverse reactions. Some countries, because of an interest in the subject and concerns, have actually done that. France is one country that did it. Following the authorization in 2008—

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

You're talking about what's happening now. What was the original? How did we compare with Denmark, France, and Norway?

[Andreas Kadi]

It's different. As I said, in Europe, these products are foods. In Canada, you not only have to get authorization for the product, where you have to confirm the safety and the efficacy of the product, but you also have to confirm the quality, you have to license the production sites, and you have to license the product, which is not required in Europe.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Do some countries require that these be sold in a pharmacy? And have there been bans on these drinks?

[Andreas Kadi]

No. There is not a single country where the sales are limited to pharmacies. This is something I hear very often, but it is not the case. In Norway, France, and Denmark, these products can be marketed freely, also in retail. And there is not a single country where the products have been banned.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

I think there is a challenge regarding aggressive marketing of energy drinks.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Dr. Duncan, Mr. Godefroy would like to make a comment. Is that okay with you?

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Yes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Mr. Godefroy.

[Dr. Samuel Godefroy]

I would just mention that the information Health Canada has is that there were previously some restrictions in some jurisdictions, specifically Norway, around the sales of these products. Our understanding is that more recently those restrictions were lifted.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Thank you for clarifying that.

Concerning these recommendations that we might have, is it possible that the analyst could pull them together?

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Absolutely.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

In regard to measures, what measures have been taken to warn the public of the possible adverse health effects from caffeine intoxication, dependence, or withdrawal? Specifically, what measures have been taken to warn children and adolescents who do not use caffeine regularly of possible adverse health effects as well as the interaction with certain medical conditions and certain medications?

[Michelle Boudreau]

Thank you. I'll take that question.

A number of things have been done to date, as I mentioned, with regard to the “It's Your Health” letters, some of those being general to caffeine and some of them being more specific to energy drinks.

I think what we're hearing, and certainly what I've heard today—and I thank everyone for their input—is that it really is about the dissemination of this information. So that is what we're looking at: how do we more properly disseminate this information so that it is before people to make those choices?

But we have put a number of information pieces out there.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Thank you, Ms. Boudreau.

We'll now go to Mr. Uppal.

[Tim Uppal, Conservative, Edmonton—Sherwood Park, AB]

Thank you.

Thank you, witnesses, for coming here today.

What we're hearing today is an obvious concern about children consuming caffeine. One of the things that comes to my mind immediately is whether we know what the levels of caffeine are in some of these slush types of drinks, whether it's an iced cappuccino or whatever; I'm sure they're under different names with different chains. Do we know what the caffeine levels are in those types of products? Because they're very popular in the summer, and you see even younger people consuming those.

[Justin Sherwood]

I believe that in my submission I provided an answer to that. I don't know it off the top of my head, but I think it is reasonably high, a Frappuccino type of product. If it's pure, coffee-based Frappuccino, it's going to have a level similar to that of coffee--

[Tim Uppal, Conservative, Edmonton—Sherwood Park, AB]

And coffee having a similar level to energy drinks.

[Justin Sherwood]

Yes.

[Tim Uppal, Conservative, Edmonton—Sherwood Park, AB]

At Health Canada, is there thought or concern about this as well, about children consuming those products?

[Dr. Samuel Godefroy]

Yes, definitely. When we look at the potential effects of caffeine, we're looking at this issue more holistically, and really, at all the different sources of caffeine, and definitely those sources, as you indicated, some of those drinks that are based on coffee or on tea. Iced tea would be another potential source of caffeine as well.

So what we're looking at, really, is having all the tools that we can contribute, whether it be labelling or dissemination of information, for providing information to parents, to caregivers, and so on, so that there is the understanding about those sources of caffeine, the amounts of caffeine that may be present in those products, and, where required, add some labelling requirements that would help that information to be provided to consumers.

[Tim Uppal, Conservative, Edmonton—Sherwood Park, AB]

So when you're talking about labelling caffeine, you would also be considering those types of products.

[Dr. Samuel Godefroy]

In the overall policy direction, that's definitely one of the considerations we have, yes.

[Tim Uppal, Conservative, Edmonton—Sherwood Park, AB]

I know that a can of Red Bull already has some labelling on it. It has some warnings. Can you explain further what is on a can of Red Bull? What types of warnings are on it? How does that differ from a can of Red Bull sold in the United States?

[Andreas Kadi]

What you find on a can of Red Bull is a description of the product and the statements we mentioned before. The product is not recommended for children, for pregnant and breast-feeding women, or for people sensitive to caffeine. It should not be mixed with alcohol. The recommended dose for a 250-millilitre can, for example, is not more than two cans. This is followed by a list of what are called the medicinal ingredients, which I would describe as the physiologically active ingredients, followed by the non-medicinal ingredients.

I may add a personal note here, I personally believe that this is not always easy for the consumer to understand compared to the presentation on a regular food product. I don't necessarily mean that it has to be same, because they are different products, but when it comes to caffeine content in particular, there may be options of moving the caffeine statement up. We're happy to do that, to make it more visible to consumers, to say as we do in Europe, that this is the product, this is the caffeine content, and then have the other ingredients following, which probably would be, at a glance, better available to the consumers than it is now.