Science Media Centre

The claims of sports products, such as drinks and footwear, suffer from a “striking lack of evidence” according to a new analysis of magazine advertising. The British study, published today in BMJ, reviewed 235 magazine advertised sports products (including oral sports drinks, oral supplements, footwear and clothing) and examined the evidence (or lack thereof) provided […]

Not only humans have trouble with overdosing on caffeine — New Zealand’s  National Poisons Centre has had five calls about pets  with problems. Staff at the centre –which gets about  35,000 calls a year — said today they had received  received 128 caffeine-related calls over the seven years to the end of 2010, of which […]

Dietary supplements are an increasingly common part of our lives, but should they be? A sophisticated, multibillion dollar industry exists in supplying dietary supplements. It is not unusual for people to take vitamin and mineral supplements every day, while some rely on caffeine drinks for a daily energy boost and nutrition bars that promise more […]

Controversy has met release onto the market of several brands of ultra-high caffeine ‘energy shot’ drinks. The shots contain as much and in some cases more than 3,300 mg (milligrams) caffeine per litre, despite the mandated maximum level allowed being 320 mg per litre. Reclassifying the drinks as ‘dietary supplements’, however, has meant that they […]