1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
"Energy Drinks"
Reporter: Beatrice Politi Producer: Hannah James Supervising Producers: Laurie Few, Allison Vuchnich Cameras: Kirk Neff, Kevin Smith, Andy Stankovich, Paul King, Paul Nolan, Jordan Lynn, Luigi Della Penta, Gord Edick Editors: Jon Wong, Tate Young
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
October 31, 2010 – This broadcast was an update to our original Energy Drinks broadcast on October 3, 2010.
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Energy drinks are a 5-billion dollar industry. They promise to charge you up, but are they safe? Our in-depth investigation put energy drinks to the test and examined the emerging research around the drinks which suggests even low levels of caffeine can potentially lead to heart attacks. We also revealed the aggressive nature of marketing in this industry and the gaping holes in Health Canada_s policy and enforcement. None of the makers of the 6 energy drinks we tested were willing to give us an on-camera interview. Only Red Bull provided a written statement. We caught the energy drink companies at their own game, skirting around Health Canada rules and openly marketing to teens, a population they say is not their core market Health Canada says the drinks are safe for adults only, yet they sit beside water bottles, pop cans and juices in corner stores and gas stations across the country, available to anyone, of any age, to buy anytime. We asked Health Canada repeatedly to provide studies that show energy drinks are safe. They said the studies provided by energy drink makers are confidential and would not release them. Instead, they sent us other studies, none of which demonstrated energy drinks are safe. We also discovered energy drinks Health Canada had actually recalled, being sold in two Toronto stores _ demonstrating the inadequacy of Health Canada policies The Canadian Medical Association Journal was so concerned, it published an editorial calling for tighter regulations on the drinks. In fact, some are calling energy drinks the _new tobacco_. The piece tells the story through two families who believe energy drinks played a role in the deaths of their teenage sons. Just two days after our original story aired (October 3, 2010), Health Canada issued a warning indicating there might be a link between energy drinks and seizures. In this, our follow-up story, Health Canada revealed for the first time, in an exclusive interview, that it is considering imposing age restrictions on the purchase of energy drinks. We invested about 2000 hours of time in this piece over the course of 3 months.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
We sourced and used several medical studies from around the world. Just days before our broadcast and weeks after our initial requests, Health Canada provided us with data and studies on energy drinks, none of which showed energy drinks are safe. Health Canada also provided us with up-to-date reports showing Canadians who have experienced adverse reactions to energy drinks – reports the agency says only reflect 10 per cent of adverse reactions. We also obtained correspondence between Health Canada and Jim Shepherd, the father of one of the deceased teens. Other documents included the autopsy reports of both teens – one Canadian, one American. Another document was the class action lawsuit to be filed by over 100 Canadians against energy drink companies claiming proper health warnings were not provided on the cans and adverse health reactions resulted. We also found Red Bull marketing material in the shape of a diploma handed out to highschool students to mark their graduation – evidence, despite Red Bull's protests, that the company does market to teens.
5. Explain types of human sources used.
We interviewed scientists and researchers in North America and as far away as Australia. We also interviewed two parents who feel their children's deaths were caused by energy drinks. Health Canada provided a spokesperson the day before our broadcast.
6. Results (if any).
Our testing of energy drinks showed that each brand contained more caffeine than was indicated on the label. Our cameras captured the energy drink companies flagrantly violating Health Canada policy by handing energy drinks out for free. We also were able to find energy drinks being sold in stores which had been previously recalled by Health Canada because they did not meet labelling standards.
7. Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
No, we did not run a correction or clarification on the report and no one challenged its accuracy.
8. Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
A challenge we encountered was finding research on energy drinks as it is a new field and emerging and ensuring the research was relevant.