Red Bull is an energy drink sold by Austrian company Red Bull GmbH, created in 1987. In terms of market share, Red Bull is the highest selling energy drink in the world, with 5.387 billion cans sold in 2013.
In 1976, Chaleo Yoovidhya introduced a drink called Krating Daeng in Thailand, which means "red gaur" in English. It was inspired by the tonic Lipovitan, whose prime ingredient is “taurine”, and was popular among Thai truck drivers and laborers. After visiting Thailand in 1982, Dietrich Mateschitz discovered that Krating Daeng helped cure his jet lag. In 1984, Mateschitz co-founded Red Bull GmbH with Yoovidhya and turned it into a global brand. Red Bull was founded by each partner investing $500,000 of savings and taking a stake in the new company. Yoovidhya and Mateschitz each held a 49% share of the new company. They gave the remaining 2% to Yoovidhya's son Chalerm, but it was agreed that Mateschitz would run the company. The product was launched in Austria in 1987.The Red Bull company slogan is "Red Bull gives you wings".
First 5 years on the market Dietrich Mateschitz had enormous problems in Austria at all and afterwards given by the EU-Commission.
At the very first time due to restrictions the drink was available in Austria only. Claims about the drink's effects and performance have been challenged on various occasions, with the UK's Advertising Standards Authority imposing advertising restrictions in 2001 in response to complaints recorded as early as 1997.
Caffeine, taurine and glucuronolactone have been assessed by health authorities for their safety. Health Canada conducted a review of the scientific literature on caffeine, concluding that the general population of healthy adults is not at risk for potential adverse effects from caffeine if they limit their consumption to 400 mg per day.
Taurine and glucuronolactone are human body constituents and present in the human diet from foods such as scallops, fish, poultry and grains. The Scientific Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources added to Food (ANS) was published in 2009 at the request of the European Food Safety Authority's commission (EFSA) and evaluated the safety of two particular "energy drink" ingredients, specifically taurine and glucuronolactone, and concluded that the exposure to these said substances at the levels presently used in energy drinks is no safety concern.
In 2009, the EFSA published another scientific opinion in the 'EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies' (NDA), focusing this time on various studies of taurine and its commercial alleged health claims, namely: antioxidant activity, detoxifying properties, and protection of body cells from oxidative damage (defined as per the EFSA: Protection of DNA, proteins and lipids from oxidative damage), energy metabolism (energy-yielding metabolism), ergogenic role in sports and exercise (Delay in the onset of fatigue and enhancement of physical performance).
The EFSA concluded that on the basis of the available data, the cause and effect relationship has not been established between the consumption of taurine and the previously mentioned commercial claims.
A review published in 2008 found no documented reports of negative or positive health effects associated with the amount of taurine used in energy drinks, including Red Bull. Caffeine and sugar levels in Red Bull are comparable to coffee and fruit juices, respectively.
