Cocaine cola may breach rules | New Zealand

Cocaine cola may breach rules

A Christchurch man plans to import and sell more than 280,000 cans of an energy drink called Cocaine even though the drink contains 3½ times the legal amount of caffeine.
Cocaine, the drink, is being imported by Wize Marketing head Geoff Percy, who was involved in the BZP party-pill industry. The New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) standard for formulated caffeinated beverages sets the upper limit of caffeine at 320mg per litre, or 80mg per 250ml. Cocaine contains 280mg in each 250ml can.

NZFSA director of compliance and investigation Geoff Allen said it appeared Percy planned to breach the law. "If he hasn't used due diligence, that's his commercial decision. If it is illegal, and it sounds as though it is, we'll take the appropriate action."

Percy said he had found a report on the Food Standards Australia New Zealand website stating no limit is prescribed if caffeine is a flavouring.

However, that report was presented in 2000, and has no legal or regulatory power. The food standard was set in 2002, and overrides the report.

Percy's big marketing push for Cocaine begins mid-August. He plans to import the drink into Australia, Ireland and New Caledonia.

When told by The Press that Cocaine would breach food-safety laws, Percy said he would be consulting a legal team.

He also planned to talk to Cocaine's maker, Las Vegas-based Redux beverages, to see how much of the caffeine came from a natural product, guarana.

Redux has told Percy it can make the drink to order by lowering caffeine levels to fit a country's regulations.

Percy said he had once drunk 1½cans of his product at 5pm, and had "managed" to get to sleep by 2am. "But I was pretty motivated before that."

The $2.99 drink would be marketed as restricted to people 18 and over, and drinkers would be urged to practise moderation.

"Look, even too much KFC or McDonald's can kill you," he said. "There are a heap of drinks out there, from colas to herbal teas, that are over the limit too.

"It's all about moderation and personal responsibility. The stance we're taking is that it needs to be regulated, and that's why it's going to be R18.

"I'm confident it's going to be a hit. This has three times the amount of caffeine than Red Bull, and people only have to have one not three. Why put so much fluid into your body?"

Dr Mark Richards, a Christchurch cardiologist and the National Heart Foundation's professor of cardiovascular studies, said the high dose of caffeine in Cocaine could trigger rapid heart rhythms and anxiety.

"Generally, you'd be setting people up for jitteriness, anxiety, a bit of tremor and increased heart rate. There is probably a sub-set of people who are vulnerable to changes in heart rhythm and over-rapid racing rhythms that might be triggered by a dose of that amount.

"It seems a little excessive and unnecessary. Most young people will come to no harm from having a big slug of caffeine like that but it's going to be an unpleasant experience for some," Richards said.

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