Cocaine Red Bull Cola: German Health Finds Cocaine in Red Bull Energy Drink Cans

Red Bull with Cocaine? Now that's a party!
Red Bull cola contains traces of narcotic cocaine, says German health authorities.

Health authorities in Germany have found up to 0.4 micrograms of cocaine per liter in Red Bull Cola energy drinks.

The bizarre claim may see Red Bull energy drinks banned in the massive European economy after investigations in the states of Hesse and North-Rhine Westphalia found traces of the cocaine party drug.

"The institute examined Red Bull Cola in an elaborate chemical process and found traces of cocaine," said Bernhard Kuehnle, head of the Federal food safety department in Germany.

The cocaine levels in the Red Bull energy drinks were not high enough to pose a health threat, health authorities said, but cocaine of course should not be permitted in foodstuffs, the health department noted. Cocain found in Red Bull beverages.

The Red Bull Cola beverage investigation found the drink to contain a non-cocaine extract of coca leaf in the drink, meaning the drink cannot be classified as a foodstuff but as a narcotic.

German retail group Rewe issued orders to remove the fizzy drink from its shops.

A spokesman for the North-Rhine Westphalia consumer ministry, said he expected most "if not all – other German states to follow suit and ban the drink".

A Red Bull beverage PR man hit back at the German claims: "Coca leaf extracts, without the active ingredient of cocaine, are used worldwide for food flavorings and are completely safe," a Red Bull spokesman told the Frankfurter Neue Presse newspaper.

Red Bull Simply Cola is a cola beverage from Red Bull GmbH, makers of the energy drink Red Bull. The cola, which contains natural flavoring and caffeine, was introduced in 2008 in several countries.

Red Bull Simply Cola is not manufactured by Red Bull itself, but in Switzerland by Rauch Trading AG for Red Bull GmbH.

Ingredients of Red Bull Cola:

-Water
-Sugar
-Carbon dioxide
Natural caramel flavor
-Natural flavors from plant extracts (0.37%): galangal, vanilla, mustard seed, lime, kola nut, cocoa, liquorice, cinnamon, lemon, ginger, coca leaf (absent in Switzerland [2]), orange, corn mint, pine, cardamom, mace, clove, and lemon juice concentrate
-Caffeine from coffee beans.