/2015-07-06_13%20Time%20magazine%20-%20Sifferlin%20-%20Energy%20drinks.pdf
In a response of approximately 400 words, craft your and reaction and response to the article in paragraph form. When drafting please keep include if your opinion of energy drinks changed at all. Also should the FDA do more to regulate energy drinks? the tall words of this assignment 550 words
2- please respond to the below paragraphs in( 50 words ). These can be in the form of original responding.
((Growing up my mom had always told me that she didn’t want me drinking energy drinks because she thought it would ‘stop my heart’. I never really took what she was saying completely seriously; kind of just laughed and shrugged it off to continue doing what I wanted. Over the years in school I have definitely had my fair share of energy drinks for various reasons. I always thought that they would help me stay up and cram for the exam I had to get a good grade on, that they would help me stay awake in my long classes throughout the day or just simply because I was craving the taste of a Red Bull (my energy drink of choice). However, after reading the attached article I have come to a deeper understanding about the risks of energy drinks especially in regards to children and/or the adolescent population. I have to sit and ask myself what the actual benefit is in drinking them, especially for a young kid. According to Sifferlin, energy drinks have been linked to hospitalizations, effects on the heart (especially in individuals with a pre-existing heart condition), hyperactivity, the inability to pay attention in the classroom, and even fatalities. These drastic effects are not something that we should take lightly as a society. We live in a culture where it is very normal to drink these supplemental energy drinks. They can be found in almost every cafeteria/market on campus as well as all gas stations and major grocery stores. Additionally, according to the article, scientists are unaware of the amount of a given ingredient in an energy drink can or bottle making it hard for them to study exactly what it is doing to the body. Companies haven’t held up their moral and ethical responsibility when it comes to their consumers and the way they market their products. Gearing advertising towards a younger crowd can be arguably looked at as unethical. Seeing as children and adolescents are continuously growing and developing their major body systems, these harmful drinks may pose a bigger threat or danger to them than older adults. It is the company’s responsibility to place a disclaimer message on their products and advertisements showing the risks of these drinks to adolescents. Likewise, the FDA is dropping the ball in regards to the regulation of these advertisements. It is the responsibility of the FDA to identify a threatening substance to society and act in favor of the consumer. The FDA should regulate which networks and audiences the energy drink companies can advertise towards. They should also require the companies to put those disclaimer messages on all of their products and advertisements so that parents are aware of what their children are drinking. Lastly, the responsibility falls upon us, the consumer. We need to do more research on what is helpful and harmful to our bodies. Parents with young children should monitor what their child is drinking and how it may effect them immediately or later down the road. Being vigilant at home and cracking down in the classroom about what teachers allow their students to drink may definitely make an impact on these devastating effects of energy drinks in young children. We must bring the adolescent population along and teach them why these substances are harmful to their body and why they should want to take care of what is theirs and choose healthier drink options.))
3- please respond to the below paragraphs in( 50 words ). These can be in the form of original responding.
((Although I have never tried an energy drink such as Red Bull, Monster, 5-Hour energy, etc., my son
frequently drinks them and many of my co-workers drink them during their scheduled work shifts. In fact, I would probably drink them as well if it was not for the syrupy taste that I imagine they have. In my opinion, they are no different than having a cup of coffee, a glass of tea, or a bottle of soda to provide a boost of energy that many of us need on occasion.
After reading the article Energy drinks have doctors worried-But business is booming (Sifferlin, 2015), my opinion about adults using energy drinks has not really changed much at all. According to Sifferlin, public-health experts have a hard time proving conclusively that energy drinks are unsafe. The article also states, that in a little less than three years, only 224 adverse events and six deaths related to energy drinks was reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (Sifferlin, 2015). This is less than the 261 cases of salmonella infections that were linked to cantaloupe from a certain farm in Owensville, Indiana, and reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2012 alone (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2013). Moreover, the FDA estimates that approximately 400 people die annually due to acute salmonellosis infection (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2013). Sifferlin also maintains that students report “feeling shaky” and their “hearts racing” after drinking energy drinks, although a fast heart rate and tremors are also side effects caused by caffeine in coffee, tea, chocolate, and many colas, as well as in over-the-counter medications such as cold medicines and pain relievers (U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2016).
However, after reading the article Energy drinks have doctors worried-But business is booming, I do agree that there should be laws regulating the sale of energy drinks to minors, comparable to those regulating the sale of alcohol and tobacco to minors. I also agree that there should be a ban on marketing strategies aimed at enticing minors to buy and consume energy drinks as well. These measures are important, not only because research shows that energy drinks make it more difficult for children to pay attention in school and scientists have found that kids in middle school who consume energy drinks are 66% more likely to exhibit symptoms of hyperactivity, but also because some brands of energy drinks are allegedly responsible for the death of some minors (Sifferlin, 2015). Although Sifferlin points out the assertion by the American Beverage Association that many energy drink products carry volunteer warnings stating that they are not recommended for children, there is no indication that there is any labeling requirement by the FDA. The FDA declares that it will continue to explore the safety of caffeine in energy drinks, as well as the safety of caffeine in other food products (Sifferlin, 2015). However, until the FDA determines the safety of energy drink consumption by minors, I believe that they should enforce stricter regulations on the marketing and availability of these products to our children.))
