Another absurd example of drug policy going haywire. The sugar content and artificial coloring, and the empty calories are deadly menaces to public health. Very minute traces of cocaine are probably totally inefficient, maybe even beneficial according to old South American Indian tradition. Certainly the coffeine is more dangerous. It will be interesting if such traces will be found in other foodstuffs.
The illegal cocaine alkaloid – one of 10 found in coca and representing only 0.8% of the plant’s chemical make-up – is chemically removed before use, as mandated by international anti-narcotics agencies.
“There is no scientific basis for this ban on Red Bull Cola because the levels of cocaine found are so small,” Fritz Soergel, the head of the Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Research in Nuremberg, Bavaria, told Time magazine.
“And it’s not even cocaine itself. According to the tests we carried out, it’s a non-active degradation product with no effect on the body. If you start examining lots of other drinks and food so carefully, you’d find a lot of surprising things.”
cited from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8067970.stm
They should prohibit Colas for other health hazards. Another human stupidity is false nutrition, obesity, eating cancerigenous substances, … But nobody prohibits junk foods because of that.
I wonder whether they’re not banning those trace amounts on forensic grounds. Drug testing is now so accurate you can test positive for consuming ridiculously little. If trace amounts are found in food, many users who test positive will have a case arguing they were contaminated by day-to-day items. Anyway, thanks for the info, this is a great site!