Traces of Cocaine Found in Red Bull Cola--May Be Banned in Germany

[tekisui]

Source: Herald Sun

RED Bull Cola may be banned in Germany after traces of cocaine were found in samples of the drink.

Six German states have ordered retailers to stop selling the beverage and more are expected to follow this week.

Samples of the popular drink examined by the German food authorities were found to contain 0.4 micrograms of cocaine per litre. They were said the have been caused by the method of processing a cocoa leaf.

'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 German federal ministry for consumer protection said.

Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment said the cocaine level was too low to pose a health risk. It planned to produce a more detailed report tomorrow.

A spokesperson for Red Bull Australia said: "Germany authorities have raised concerns regarding Red Bull Cola due to the use of a decocainised coca leaf extract in the product. We are in contact with the authorities to clarify the issue.

"Decocainised Coca leaf extracts are used as flavouring in foodstuffs around the world and are considered as safe (eg FDA Gras Status, Council of Europe). Red Bull Cola and other foodstuff containing such extracts may therefore be sold legally.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25539509-5012749,00.html

[JonLP24]

1. In Germany?

They have cocaine laced liquor. Not enough to get you high of course but there is a tiny amount of cocaine. The drink is green and I think it is called Agwa or something like that.

[Sanity Claws]

2. I'm going to try the stuff

I've never been interested in any of the so-called energy drinks. I like my hot tea but now I'm interested in Red Bull.

[Chulanowa]

3. Oh good fucking god.

0.4 micrograms per liter? Surely hte heavans will topple around our heads!

Show me a person who just drank a liter of red bull and I'll show you someone with more things to worry about than 0.4 micrograms of cocaine.

[carlyhippy]

4. will it be the same red bull as they sell here in the us?

I don't like red bull, I can't get it down because it tastes so bad

[ForrestGump]

5. That's because Red Bull has its origins in urine extracted from Lindsay Lohan.

Tastes thusly, anyway.

[anigbrowl]

6. 0.4 parts per billion? Give me a break.

1 Liter = 1000 cc (cubic centimeter).
1 cc = approx. 1g (gram).
1 g = 1000 mg (milligrams).
1 mg = 1000 ug (micrograms).

0.4 ug / liter = 0.00000004%. If you wanted to get high from this cola, you'd need about 50-100,000 liters to produce a single minimal dose of cocaine.

[rcrush]

7. LOL thats one way to sell your crappy energy drink.

No wonder I couldnt drink just one!