Dakota Sailor, left, suffered a seizure and stopped breathing after he drank two energy drinks in February. Taylor Bear, concluded the drinks played a "primary role" in his life-threatening event. Sailor hasn't used them, though, since February when the 17-year-old lineman suffered a seizure after drinking two 16-ounce cans of NOS, which combined contained 520 milligrams of caffeine. He bought them at a convenience store and downed them in the locker room. Like his teammates on the Carl Junction (Mo.) High School football team, Dakota Sailor said he often used energy drinks before games. The performance-enhancing drug that's not banned The ability to heap as much caffeine in a cold beverage as a manufacturer desires, and not play by the rules of sodas, has made the drinks popular, particularly among teen athletes looking for a boost. The exercise with Owoc helps explain how the energy drink market has gone from zero to $7 billion in sales in little more than a decade. "It's kind of self-governing with the law." So what would prevent some wily entrepreneur from dumping more into an energy drink, in an attempt to gain a share in what has become a booming industry? The powder fills up the bottom of the tray, and has some stack to it.Īnd what about the most potent product on the market? He digs into the jar once, twice, three times, then says, "you're looking at that amount." Five hundred milligrams, the caffeine content in a 1-ounce bottle of 5150 Juice, which is so concentrated that it comes with a syringe and FAQ advice to dilute the liquid with water, milk or beer.
His energy drink, Redline? Owoc presents a tray with 250 milligrams, for the 8-ounce bottle. Twice that amount is all the government allows any cola-like soda to contain, for health reasons. That's the amount of caffeine, 35 milligrams, to be found in a 12-ounce can of Coke. He taps the spoon so that a small chunk falls into a disposable tray on the table.
But he knows the drill, so he thrusts a tiny metal spoon into a white plastic jar filled to the rim with a chalky substance that looks like it could be baking soda, or cocaine. The well-muscled CEO of VPX/Redline wears designer jeans and an untucked turquoise shirt, more casual dress than the white-coated techies who buzz around him. And in the middle of a sleepy business plaza on the outskirts of Fort Lauderdale, inside a small room that's been turned into a lab, he is about to show how easy it is to make a performance-enhancing drug supplement. Jack Owoc likes to say of his company, "The wheel of innovation never stops," but the same is true of his industry.
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