Energy drinks - Government Publishing Office

S. HRG. 113?331

ENERGY DRINKS: EXPLORING CONCERNS ABOUT MARKETING TO YOUTH

HEARING

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION

UNITED STATES SENATE

ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION JULY 31, 2013 Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

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SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia, Chairman

BARBARA BOXER, California BILL NELSON, Florida MARIA CANTWELL, Washington MARK PRYOR, Arkansas CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota MARK WARNER, Virginia MARK BEGICH, Alaska RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts

JOHN THUNE, South Dakota, Ranking ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi ROY BLUNT, Missouri MARCO RUBIO, Florida KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire DEAN HELLER, Nevada DAN COATS, Indiana TIM SCOTT, South Carolina TED CRUZ, Texas DEB FISCHER, Nebraska RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin JEFF CHIESA, New Jersey

ELLEN L. DONESKI, Staff Director JAMES REID, Deputy Staff Director JOHN WILLIAMS, General Counsel DAVID SCHWIETERT, Republican Staff Director NICK ROSSI, Republican Deputy Staff Director REBECCA SEIDEL, Republican General Counsel and Chief Investigator

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C O N T E N T S

Page

Hearing held on July 31, 2013 ............................................................................... 1 Statement of Senator Rockefeller ........................................................................... 1 Statement of Senator Thune ................................................................................... 6 Statement of Senator Blumenthal .......................................................................... 25 Statement of Senator Markey ................................................................................. 26

WITNESSES

Hon. Richard Durbin, U.S. Senator from Illionis .................................................. 3 Report dated April 10, 2013 entitled ''What's all the Buzz about'' written by the staff of Congressman Edward J. Markey (D?MA) in coordination with the staff of Senators Richard J. Durbin (D?IL) and Richard Blumenthal (D?CT) ...................................................................................... 8

Marcie Beth Schneider, MD, FAAP, on behalf of the American Academy of Pediatrics .......................................................................................................... 27 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 29

Jennifer L. Harris, Ph.D., MBA, Senior Research Scientist, Director of Marketing Initiatives, Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity, Yale University . 45 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 46

William R. Spencer, M.D., Suffolk County Legislator .......................................... 91 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 92

Rodney Sacks, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Monster Beverage Corporation ................................................................................................................. 112 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 113

Amy Taylor, Vice President and General Manager, Red Bull North America, Inc. ......................................................................................................................... 136 Letter dated July 30, 2013 to Hon. John D. Rockefeller IV and Hon. John R. Thune from Stefan Kozak, Chief Executive Officer, Red Bull North America, Inc. ...................................................................................... 137 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 141

Janet Weiner, Chief Operations Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Rockstar, Inc. ......................................................................................................................... 144 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 146

James R. Coughlin, Ph.D., President, Coughlin & Associates ............................. 200 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 202

Letter dated March 13, 2013 to Hon. Edward Markey from Mark A. Emmert, President, National Collegiate Athletic Association .......................................... 224

Letter dated March 7, 2013 to Hon. Richard J. Durbin, Hon. Richard Blumenthal, and Hon. Edward J. Markey from Robert B. Gardner, Executive Director, National Federation of State High School Associations ............ 226

APPENDIX

Fact Sheet from the Council for Responsible Nutrition to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation ................................... 239

Recommended Guidelines from the Council for Responsible Nutrition to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation .............. 242

Red Bull North America's Statement Supplementing the Record of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation's July 31, 2013 Hearing on Energy Drinks: Exploring Concerns About Marketing to Youth . 244

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ENERGY DRINKS: EXPLORING CONCERNS ABOUT MARKETING TO YOUTH

WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2013

U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION,

Washington, DC. The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:55 p.m., in Room SR?253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. John D. Rockefeller IV, Chairman of the Committee, presiding.

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, U.S. SENATOR FROM WEST VIRGINIA

The CHAIRMAN. The Senate is the Senate. The person at the witness table knows that better than anybody. Are you going to do anything with those things? Is that an exhibition, or are you going to show us your--you are? OK.

All right. Let me just explain to the witnesses and to the faithful audience. It is hard to get people confirmed around here, and so it always come down to--often comes down to when a single member is missing or not findable that everything stops, and the whole world tries to get that person, find that person. And so, that is the situation we are in now.

If she is found and does vote, which I don't think will be probable, then we will--I will have to go back and do another vote, make your life even worse.

However, Senator Durbin is here, and Senator Blumenthal is here, and Senator Markey is going to be here. And what I want to do, because those three have been so incredible on this whole subject, they put out a report, the three of them, which is called ``What's All the Buzz About?'' And you understand what I mean by ``buzz.'' I mean this is a different kind of buzz.

And they did this some months ago. It is a fabulous report, and it is all about targeting marketing to adolescents of things which should not be targeted or marketed to them.

So what I am going to do is make my statement and then listen to my leader, Richard Durbin, who has been working very, very strongly, as I indicated, on this. And then I am going to turn the gavel over to Senator Blumenthal. Not because I want to, but because the thought of him having the gavel, presiding over something in which he and Senator Markey have been so committed and so dedicated for so long is the only proper thing to do.

So I will fade into the distance, and you will forget that you ever heard me or saw me.

[Laughter.]

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The CHAIRMAN. So my statement. Today's hearing is going to look at a product that it has been growing very rapidly in popularity in the last few years. It is not the Congress, actually, I am talking about. It is energy drinks, energy drinks.

While energy drink companies have aggressively marketed their products on television, social media, and event sponsorship, public health experts have been raising some serious, disturbing questions about these drinks. They are asking whether we should be letting our children drink energy drinks and whether energy drink companies should be able to market their products to children and to teenagers, two fairly basic questions.

In the meantime, if you watch TV, you just--every other TV ad is either about a car, which is fine, or about one of these drinks, which is less fine. I think these are important questions, and I am going to be listening to those who are asking some of them.

So here are just two facts about energy drinks. As energy drink marketing and sales to children has increased, there has been a surge in emergency room visits associated with energy drinks. And in the first 6 months of this year, poison control centers received 1,500 reports involving energy drinks, more than half of which involved children under the age of 18.

So these are two frightening statistics. Pediatricians and other medical experts have been saying that high levels of caffeine found in many of these drinks may pose health risks to young people, such as heart arrhythmias, increased blood pressure, and dehydration. And again, that is scary stuff.

In fact, a recent clinical report published by the American Academy of Pediatrics states, ``Rigorous review and analysis of the literature reveal that caffeine and other stimulant substances contained in energy drinks have no place in the diet of children and adolescents.'' So that is what we are hearing from pediatricians.

And just last month, the American Medical Association approved a resolution endorsing a ban on marketing energy drinks to children and teens. They don't do that often. They did that on this.

That brings us to the question before us. How are companies marketing energy drinks to younger people? What are their techniques? And are energy drink companies listening to the medical experts who are increasingly worried about what these drinks may be doing to our kids? Is there any talk back and forth?

Two members of this committee, Senators Blumenthal and Markey, along with Senator Durbin, have been leading the way in examining the marketing practices of major energy drink companies for a long time. And I honor them for their work. Their investigation found that while energy drink companies say they do not market to children, adolescent consumer products are frequent targets for energy drink marketing practices. We know that.

Similarly, marketing experts at the Rudd Center on Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University have raised concerns about energy drink marketing practices that are reaching teens in high percentages relative to adults. For example, disturbingly, many energy drinks are now sold in large, nonresealable containers holding two to three servings that encourage high-volume consumption in one sitting. Clever, isn't it? Helpful, it is not.

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