The Red Bull cocaine saga continues to widen, with two more countries ordering tests for cocaine on the iconic energy drink, and one more country banning the product. This follows tests in Germany and Austria that have resulted in Red Bull Simply Cola being pulled from stores in five German states and Austria. China has also pulled Red Bull products from shelves after officials in Hong Kong claim to have found traces of cocaine in Red Bull energy drinks. There were also reports, later denied by Red Bull, that the product had been pulled in Jordan.
Qatar now joins the UAE in ordering cocaine tests on Red Bull following an alert on the products that went into effect after news that traces of cocaine was found in some Red Bull products in some countries. In further developments, the Food & Drug Authority of Maldives (FDA) on Wednesday banned the import and selling of Red Bull products in Maldives.
Qatar's Supreme Council of Health announced made an official statement that samples of Red Bull test samples had already been taken, and that tests would be performed at the central laboratory.
The statement, which appeared in The Peninsula on Thursday added that the "Council will announce the results soon after completion of the tests to allay fears of the people and as part of its keenness to protect the public health and safety."
Maldives' Director General of FDA Moosa Anwar said that Maldives' officials had been taken, even in the absence of actual test results, to ban Red Bull energy drink products in Maldives because official tests in other countries had found trace amounts of cocaine.
“Although the test results aren’t available yet the presence of cocaine in the drinks is a very serious issue, which is why we have banned the drink,” he said.
Mr. Anwar said that no narcotic drug should not be present in any food or beverages and the FDA would not approve of products that contained such drugs. Anwar added that officials are requesting that the Economic Ministry recall the drink from shops and to prevent further imports of Red Bull energy drinks.
The Islamic Ministry has received numerous complaints from some people who wished to know why Maldives had not banned Red Bull energy drinks when other countries had done so. The Islamic Ministry has requested by letter that the FDA conduct tests on the drink to assess possible cocaine traces.
Moosa Anwar said that the FDA lacked proper equipment conduct such tests. “We are getting ready to do the tests with the help of the Police,” he said. “We have sent some people to take samples.”
For its part, the Red Bull company has been emphatic in its attempts to defend their product and educate the public. They have issued a public statement regarding the efforts by the Chinese in Hong Kong, which follows:
It would have been absolutely impossible for Asian (or any other) authorities to have found traces of cocaine in Red Bull Energy Drink.
We believe that Asian authorities mistakenly applied concerns about Red Bull Simply Cola to Red Bull Energy Drink, a completely different product with an entirely different formula. Nevertheless, we had Red Bull Energy Drink product samples from Asia analyzed by an independent and accredited institute and confirmed that Red Bull Energy Drink does not contain any cocaine.
A German authority had raised concerns regarding the use of de-cocainized coca leaf extract in Red Bull Simply Cola. However, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) later publicly confirmed that there is no risk to human health or any other undesired pharmacological effects associated with Red Bull Simply Cola.
De-cocainized coca leaf extracts are used as flavoring in food products around the world and are considered to be safe. Indeed, in 21 C.FR. 182.20, the Food and Drug Administration regulations provide that it is acceptable and safe to use de-cocainized coca in food products in the United States.
Red Bull spokeswoman Patrice Radden reiterated that her colleagues in Austria reported that Red Bull Energy Drink has not been banned or pulled from the shelves in Jordan.
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