Question

What are the potential challenges '5-Hour Energy' faces in the future?

Answer 1

After the launch of 5 Hour energy drink, the brand was facing knock off's from other manufacturers who managed with similar packaging, design and graphics. Also the drink was priced higher at $3 per 2 ounces bottle and was not cheap or economical, considering the products from other established manufacturers such as Red Bull. Also the product faced speculation given that it was the very first 'energy shot' drink available in the market.

Coming to the challenges from health perspective, the FDA identifies a number of health hazards in connection with 5 Hour Energy. Reports find out that 5 Hour Energy contains 215 milligram of caffeine, thus making  5-hour energy containing double the amount of caffeine as a standard cup of coffee.

The challenge is that drinks such as 5 Hour Energy, Monster Energy etc, have deaths linked with their consumption. Caffeine, is an artificial borrowed energy which is not naturally generated, instead artificially simulated. This thus has a lot of medical issues due to the high doses of concentrated caffeine consumption.

The problem is that, other factors such as age, weight, Pre-existing conditions such as asthma , heart diseases etc have an adverse reaction to the consumers of this product. The first report was a death due to the direct consumption of 5 Hour Energy was in 2009. Caffeine is a type of drug, which can result in anxiety, gastrointestinal problems. Energy drinks which contains caffeine is regulated as a food addictive that can result in addiction while consumption and result in dangerous side effects and body imbalances.

Since we do not possess much information relating to this issue, the risks of energy drinks can't be fully evaluated if we don't have all the information about people who've died or experienced other adverse effects. Also energy drinks are often mixed with alcohol because caffeine makes people feel less drunk but does absolutely nothing to change the actual blood alcohol level. But if it is absolutely must to have caffeine and drink caffeine induced beverages, it must to consult a doctor or a pharmacists to know about your health status or to get awareness on the negative effects on consumption of caffeine.

These are some of the questions on the following reports of US Food and Drug Administration on deaths and hospitalizations as reports from energy drink manufacturers, specifically in the reports includes Monster and Rock star energy drinks as well as 5-hour Energy that are available throughout pharmacies and convenience stores.