The Food Safety Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina announced about Prime energy drink after learning that certain drinks contain a harmful ingredient.
Slovenia has banned the caffeinated version of the famous energy drink Prime because it contains the ingredient L-theanine, which is not allowed in soft drinks, and Croatia is also thinking about it.
The Agency for Food Safety of BiH points out that they have addressed the relevant inspection bodies in BiH with a request to take measures within their jurisdiction and to submit verified information back to the Agency.
“According to the provisions of the Law on Food (“Official Gazette of BiH”, number 50/04), food that contains substances or raw materials that have not been sufficiently evaluated, verified and safe for human use is considered unsuitable for human consumption, that is, drinks with the addition of L-theanine are considered unsuitable for human consumption,” the Agency says.
When asked if there are also BH to the market of the caffeinated version of the Prime energy drink, the Agency says that the Food Safety Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina has not been notified that this product has been distributed on the market of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was not notified either by the competent inspection bodies or through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (EU RASFF).
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Rulebook on the provision of information to consumers about food (“Official Gazette of BiH”, number 68/13) is in force, which took over Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 on the provision of information to consumers about food.
In Annex III. The Rulebook stipulates that for beverages, except those based on caffeine, tea or coffee, tea extract where the product name includes the term “coffee” or “tea”, and which are intended for consumption without modifications and contain caffeine, from any source, in a proportional ratio that exceeds 150 mg/l, the declaration must include a notice about the high caffeine content, which is not recommended for children, pregnant women and nursing mothers.
The Panel for Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergens at the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) concluded that individual doses of caffeine up to 200 mg, i.e. up to 3 mg per kilogram of body weight (mg/kg bw) from all sources do not represent reasons for concern for general health adult population.
When it comes to children and adolescents, intake of 3mg/kg bw is considered safe, because caffeine clearance, i.e. the ability to release caffeine is at least the same as for the adult population.
The Agency notes that in view of the growing trends in the consumption of drinks with an increased percentage of caffeine, it is very important to educate children and young people about safe amounts of caffeine intake.
“Otherwise, despite the ‘peppery’ price and experts’ warnings about the harmful effects of high doses of caffeine for children, Prime energy drinks are also popular with our teenagers,” they concluded.
