Maybe Red Bull Really Does Give You Wings
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
German authorities are pulling Red Bull off retailers shelves after traces of cocaine were found.
FoxNews is reporting that German authorities are pulling Red Bull energy drinks off of the shelves of some retailers after “traces” of cocaine were discovered.
A food safety institute in the German state of North-Rhine Westphalia found the drug during a test on Red Bull samples.
The institute examined Red Bull cola in an elaborate chemical process and found traces of cocaine,” Bernhard Kuehnle, head of the food safety department at the federal ministry for consumer protection, told The Daily Mail.
While the levels of the drug found do not appear to pose a health threat, it is still illegal. The contamination would require the drink to be classified as a narcotic, not foodstuff.
Red Bull argues the drink contains “de-cocainized” extract of coca leaf, which is used as natural flavoring in foods worldwide. The company also claimed the coca leaf extract is considered safe in the EU and in the U.S.
Wait, haven’t we been down this road before?
When Coke was originally formulated in 1886 by one John Styth Pemberton, an Atlanta druggist, it contained and likely still contains three parts coca leaves to one part cola nut. The new soft drink was one of many in that era containing cocaine, which was being touted as a benign substitute for alcohol. Coke, in fact, was promoted as a patent medicine, which would “cure all nervous afflictions–Sick Headache, Neuralgia, Hysteria, Melancholy, Etc….”
How much cocaine Coke actually contained and how much kick you got from it is not known. But for years Southerners called the stuff “dope” or “a shot in the arm,” while soda fountains were called “hop joints” and Coke delivery trucks “dope wagons.”
Shortly thereafter Coke quietly switched from fresh to “spent” coca leaves (i.e., what’s left over after the cocaine has been removed). It also stopped advertising Coke as a cure for what ails you and instead promoted it simply as a refreshing beverage.
So, all in all, maybe Red Bull really does give you wings.
-Stephen Ball
Tags: cocaine, coke, german government, redbull