Some energy drinks may contain harmful levels of bleach

Energy drinks. Love them or loathe them, they're sticking around for the forseeable future and they rake in absolutely loads of money. You only have to see the successful sponsorship exploits of Red Bull and Monster Energy and the failed sponsorship exploits of Rich Energy to know that these companies have a huge push when it comes to brand value and disposable income. However, we might have to ask a few questions about our enjoyment of energy drinks, as a study led by Monash University has discovered that some energy drinks may contain harmful amounts of bleach. Yes, you read that correctly. Bleach.

This study, published in Food Chemistry on 17th September 2020 and led by Professor Louise Bennett who works at the Monash School of Chemistry as the course director of its Master of Food Science and Agribusiness course, found that some energy drinks have higher levels of hydrogen peroxide than the levels that are naturally produced in the human body. Hydrogen peroxide is used in the human body as a signalling molecule and we naturally produce a level of 0.0003 mg/kg. Hydrogen peroxide that's naturally within the human body can also be deactivated by natural cellular processes. By contrast, Professor Bennett's study found out that levels of hydrogen peroxide can stay at a constant level of up to 5 mg/kg (the legally allowed hydrogen peroxide limit in Australia) due to the acidic composition of an energy drink and that it can remain in the stomach after the drink's been consumed.

As you can imagine this sounds like pretty scary stuff, but that's not the end of it. Professor Bennett has linked the unnaturally elevated hydrogen peroxide levels in energy drinks to some pretty serious health risks. "The long term effects [of ingesting hydrogen peroxide] may explain some cancer risk trends in the age group who consume Energy drinks... This reflects that toxicity is not well understood, particularly for regular consumption of ~350 ml such as a in a commercial beverage." That is pretty damning! It's definitely the sort of crazy news that would make you want to give up energy drinks altogether...

Don't worry too much though. Whilst in Australia the permitted levels are as high as 5 mg/kg, other countries tend to have much lower permitted levels of hydrogen peroxide (anywhere from 0-0.5 mg/kg). Also, the reserachers aren't telling us to give up energy drinks completely. They're hoping that this research will lead to better methods of manufacturing energy drinks to come up with ways to "avoid or degrade the hydrogen peroxide" and are hoping to work with energy drinks manufacturers to achieve this. Phew!