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The expert stated that whether the two can be mixed to produce Anacaff, still depends on the production technology and process. For example, many enterprises often use heating methods for sterilization during production. Whether new substances are produced under heating conditions still needs to be determined by authoritative departments through experiments.
Despite Red Bull's claim that its product is "safe and stable," the public urgently needs an authoritative explanation regarding whether sodium benzoate and caffeine can generate Anacaff, a psychotropic drug.
Currently, a branch of the Harbin Food and Drug Administration has conducted a sampling investigation on the Heilongjiang branch of Beijing Red Bull Beverage Co., Ltd., and the tested samples have been sent to relevant institutions for testing.
Comprehensive reports from Xinhua News Agency revealed that recently, China's energy drink industry giant - Red Bull Vitamin Drink Co., Ltd., was exposed for illegally adding unapproved food additives in its health food Red Bull drinks. The Red Bull side claims there is no violation in using additives. Currently, some supermarkets in certain areas have started to voluntarily remove the product from shelves.
The simultaneous presence of sodium benzoate and caffeine has drawn even more questions. Some insiders pointed out that these two components, when mixed, may transform into Anacaff. According to the "Regulations on the Management of Psychotropic Substances," Anacaff is a stimulating psychotropic substance used clinically to treat central nervous system inhibition, as well as respiratory failure and circulatory failure caused by anesthetics. It is a strictly controlled psychotropic substance by the state.
In the original application materials filed with the Ministry of Health, the reporter saw that the "formula" column lists water, sucrose, taurine, inositol, lysine, vitamin PP, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, caffeine, sodium benzoate, citric acid, sodium citrate, flavoring, carmine, and tartrazine. Sodium benzoate and sodium citrate, which are not marked on the website of the National Food and Drug Administration, are included in the list.
In the label of the Red Bull Vitamin Functional Beverage can, the reporter discovered various additives such as caffeine, sodium benzoate, citric acid, sodium citrate, among others. However, in the approval documents of this product on the website of the National Food and Drug Administration, there is no mention of "sodium citrate" or "sodium benzoate."
A pharmaceutical expert in Harbin introduced that simply looking at the molecular structures of sodium benzoate and caffeine, they can react to form Anacaff, but this must meet certain conditions, such as requiring heating, adding catalysts, or being in acidic conditions to undergo substitution and produce new compounds. If it’s just at room temperature, sodium benzoate belongs to a stable salt class, and mixing the two generally only produces a mixture rather than a new substance.
The reporter's investigation found that Red Bull Vitamin Functional Beverage was approved as a health food by the Ministry of Health in July 1997, with the approval number Wei Shi Jian Zi (1997) No. 327, and the applicant was Red Bull Vitamin Drink Co., Ltd., with the health function being anti-fatigue.
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Relevant officials from the Harbin Food and Drug Administration stated that Red Bull Vitamin Functional Beverage was approved as a health food by the Ministry of Health in 1997. According to the registration management regulations at that time, the approval certificate and instructions could only indicate major ingredients. This regulation was abolished after the National Food and Drug Administration took over responsibility for health foods in 2005, and thereafter, all ingredients were required to be labeled on the approval certificate and instructions.
However, there is currently no related statement regarding the issue of containing artificial synthetic colorants like carmine, which are not allowed by the state in vitamin functional beverages.