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    <title><![CDATA[Discussion on Possible Monster Energy deaths: Should energy drinks be regulated? ]]></title>
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        <title><![CDATA[THE Healthy Energy Drink  Alternative!]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-88325]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[VEMMA And VERVE Healthy Energy!The original superfruit in a super formula]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-88325]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[MatthewCANADA]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sun, 23 Dec 2012 13:12:23 -0800</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Healthy Energy Drink  Alternative!]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-88315]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[VEMMA And VERVE Healthy Energy!The original superfruit in a super formula]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-88315]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[MatthewCANADA]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sun, 23 Dec 2012 13:10:11 -0800</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Typical statist response]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-82920]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[&quot;And even adult purchases should be regulated.&quot;Yes, if there is a problem with a product, let's just have government regulate it.  In a free society, people persuade.  In an unfree society, people are forced to do what government tells them to do.  They have no choice, and choice is the essence of freedom.  However, since government is force, every busy-body and do-gooder goes running to it, seeking new laws and new regulations to legislate other people's lives.  Persuasion is just too hard and takes too long, and people just might choose not to do what the busy-bodies want them to do.You are an educator.  You can influence children and parents to make the right choices without requiring that every citizen be infantilized.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-82920]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[sissy sue]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 08 Nov 2012 07:32:30 -0800</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[energy drinks]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-82817]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Energy drinks should definitely be regulated. As a teacher, i see children as young as 12 starting their day with these horrible drinks. The processed foods leading to diabetic complications  http://diabetesfeet.wordpress.com/2012/11/01/diabetes-feet-swollen-what-you-must-do/ and obesity. The combination of junk food and energy drinks is a disaster. No one under 18 should be able to buy these drinks. And even adult purchases should be regulated.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-82817]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[PrettyOldlady]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Wed, 07 Nov 2012 08:48:46 -0800</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[how do we regulate parents?]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81908]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[How do we regulate parents, other than putting warning labels on things that they don't have the common sense to restrict their children to?  I know its hard for the privileged to believe, but I think some parents out there really don't KNOW that these drinks a. have caffeine, or b. that caffeine is bad for you.  Hard to believe, but watching one episode of the shows about kids in beauty pageants will tell you this is true. Manufacturers who are putting dangerous amounts of chemicals in drinks if they are consumed more than one at a time, or more than once in TWO DAYS should have legal obligations to warn people of this, since the reality is the DON'T know.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81908]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[tassiac]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 26 Oct 2012 13:55:59 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[There you go then.]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81826]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[A tragedy?  Certainly.  But was Monster really responsible for her death?  There are probably a thousand other consumer products out there that would have proven just as lethal to this young girl.Perhaps if Monster sold itself as some sort of &quot;health tonic&quot;, the girl's family might have a case.  But that's hardly Monster's image.  Monster's packaging and marketing clearly promotes it as an &quot;edgy&quot; product.Personally, if I had been diagnosed with the kind of issues this girl had, I'd avoid products such as Monster.  (I'm personally quite healthy, and I avoid products like this anyway)  But we also know that teenager's ability to assess risk is marginal to non-existent, as it clearly was in this case.  Was this Monster's fault?  The court will decide.Personally, I'm willing to bet that Monster will prevail.As for the &quot;should they be regulated&quot; issue; I've already said that if we're going to regulate Monster-like drinks on the basis of 5 deaths per year (and most of those deaths were due to extreme circumstances) then there are probably thousands of other products/activities we should be regulating as well that are killing far more people.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81826]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[JohnMcGrew@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 26 Oct 2012 07:00:04 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[You're right]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81832]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Hi,You're right that she had an existing medical problem. It was an error on my part not to mention it. Here's what the NYT says:The lawsuit filed last week on behalf of the teenager referred to autopsy and medical examiner reports that said she had died of cardiac arrhythmia due to caffeine toxicity that had exacerbated an existing heart problem. The report also showed that the teenager had Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which can affect the bodys connective tissue, including blood vessels. A lawyer for her family, Kevin Goldberg, said that the 14-year-old had been aware she had an underlying heart condition but added that her doctors had not told her to restrict her physical activities or her caffeine use.Laura]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81832]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[laurashin]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 25 Oct 2012 18:37:06 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[And they make you talk really, really fast....]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81802]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[And type, type, type.................]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81802]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[seniorfrog52@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 25 Oct 2012 10:51:15 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Whole damn bag of salt....]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81788]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Have you tasted these drinks?  Tastes and smells like a moldy coffee filter.  Probably not some thing you'd try twice if your brain wasn't looking for a kick start.  Warning: Consumption of a bag of salt may be hazardous to your health.  Duh.Sure let's get Congress involved over 5 possible deaths.  Afghanistan? Hello!]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81788]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[seniorfrog52@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 25 Oct 2012 10:48:55 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Darwin]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81773]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Actually, you *do* want to invoke Darwin on these kids. Weed out the dumb ones *before* they can reproduce. Harsh, but that's the way it is.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81773]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[jred]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 25 Oct 2012 08:35:12 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Since I don't consume any of these beverages...]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81700]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[...I really can't render an opinion as to their taste.But since their explicit sales point is to chemically alter my state of being instead to merely quench thirst, I am naturally adverse to them.  Do I think they should be outlawed or otherwise regulated?  I don't think so.  Like I said, more people die from peanut butter.I think the &quot;bath salts&quot; issue is far more urgent.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81700]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[JohnMcGrew@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Wed, 24 Oct 2012 13:15:40 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Let me apologize, then]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81698]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[I might have read your post more subjectively than objectively. This may be because I drink 2 a day: one Java Monster and one Monster Rehab Orangeade. These are both 16 oz cans and have done me pretty good for the day in both labor intensive and focus intensive positions (the latter is the current situation and now I am more likely to only drink one. I was taking into account what I know about the variables in human beings. I cannot base what someone else should or needs to do based on my life, I can only gauge by my life, and from that gauge I was responding to your nowhere near lethal comment. That, which I agree with, must not be the standard that we judge all cases because of instances such as this. As you said, clearly, something else was wrong. Another point on this topic is the rate by which Monster has advanced. It does have less caffeine than others on the market by volume, even that of coffee. I like it because of the vitamins in it. Rehab has &quot;super food&quot; berries as ingredients and has only 10 calories per serving and therefore little sugar. Red Bull came out in 1987, Monster Energy was introduced in 2002. I read somewhere that Red Bull has 30% of the energy drink market, Monster Energy has 35%. WHOA! I wonder if the lawyer filing the case against monster has any ties with Red Bull... If I had a product that was being beaten so badly but I had no way of implicating that there was something wrong in their product directly (which cannot be done because it would be a conflict of interest) I would jump on any event in which the opponents product was less than superior.Another fact for you: Monster tastes better than the others! No one wants to drink something that tastes like a dissolved multivitamin mixed with a hint of some chemical, what I can only imagine is the taste of the caffeine itself.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81698]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[sivadm]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Wed, 24 Oct 2012 11:20:37 -0700</pubDate>
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    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Here are the facts we do have.]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81686]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[I'm not arguing that such drinks are the least bit safe.But the FDA only considers doses of over 5000mg as potentially lethal.  That would be 31 cans of Monster.  The girl in question drank 2 cans within 24 hours.Clearly, something else was wrong.Twice as many people die per year due to peanut allergies than caffeine drinks.  We haven't outlawed peanut butter yet.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81686]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[JohnMcGrew@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Wed, 24 Oct 2012 08:40:44 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[To JohnMcGrew and others w/o facts]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81657]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[First of all, the report shows that the girl drank two 24 oz cans within 1 24 hour period. That's more than anyone should drink. As for the rest of the audience who cannot see past this opportunity for the legal system to abuse competent individuals through those who cannot perceive a modality of responsibility for self and the consequences of the choices you make (including how you raise your children), c'mon, are you people serious? I have made two tiny URLs to debunk this hype. Please Read:http://tinyurl/coffee-badhttp://tinyurl/energy-good]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81657]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[sivadm]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Wed, 24 Oct 2012 08:11:25 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Am I the only one that noticed...]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81668]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[...that the girl in question died after drinking only two of these over two days?  The amount of caffeine she consumed was nowhere near lethal for normal, healthy teenagers.In all likelihood, she had some sort of diagnosed heart defect.  If she hadn't died after consuming the Monster drink, she likely would have died of something else at some point in the not-so-distant future.Every year, several-times more kids drop dead participating in high school athletics.  Are we going to outlaw those as well?]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81668]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[JohnMcGrew@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Wed, 24 Oct 2012 06:59:04 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Confederacy of Dunces]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81626]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[This web site and SHAM-O-CRACY OF DUNCES should be renamed:  NOT SO SMART PLANET....chimps have more smarts than we do just look at what they've managed to accomplish in Washington, District of Criminals.  The End, bubye!]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81626]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[BigMikeyZ]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Tue, 23 Oct 2012 20:05:46 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Energy drink controversy]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81618]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Have seen in Belize, where I live, a budding young upcoming television reporter and journalist who also found dead after consuming an energy drink. He was buried and no further inquiries were made but it always stuck in my mind that an energy drink was responsible for his untimely death because of an empty can that was found near his bedside. The amount of variables involved here is  also very wide but think that your F.D.A. should do some research and put warning labels on these beverages should the facts warrant or deem it necessary. Really, I have no faith in  this lot who readily bend and bow to the dictates of the powerful lobbies who make sure that  congress  protect the interests of these companies. Don't think it necessarily have to be the caffeine content either. There is a long list of other compounds like maca and guarana  in these drinks, to just name a few from memory, that may also cause or trigger adverse cardiovascular events in certain people who may not even be aware that they may be susceptible to them. At least in your country you have the recourse of the courts and a whole lot of greedy lawyers on both sides. All can remember down here is a grieving and heart-broken mom who it probably never crossed her mind  that the innocuous empty energy drink can may have held some answers for her son's untimely death.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81618]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[markmcf@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Tue, 23 Oct 2012 14:51:40 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[The 'smart']]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81616]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[trying to tell the 'dumb' how to be 'smart'.  Humanscome in many flavors; we really need to look outfor everybody.  Absent-minded actors too.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81616]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[bill1514@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Tue, 23 Oct 2012 13:57:12 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[FDA needs revamping]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81598]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[The FDA was originated in order to ensure that what you bought was what you got.Somewhere along the way, this got lost, and now there's lots of holes in 'having to reveal' what's in your product, and another bunch of added rules about 'safe &amp; effective.'It's no trouble for manufacturers to reveal exactly how much and which substances are in their products destined for human consumption or application to the body...the information is easy to obtain using modern analysis.'Safe' or 'effective' are another thing altogether...levels of something safe for you might kill someone else, and effectivity is difficult to measure, since in few cases is the effectiveness of a compound 100% or definitively established.Warning labels are important, but get real, the amount of advertising and the emotional responses it produces far outweighs the effect of any warning...that's why we eliminated tobacco advertising.The vast majority of the cost of soft drinks, water, wine &amp; beer is the cost of convincing you to buy the product. Without advertising, you probably would buy considerably less of these products, and in every case, that would be better for you, me, our environment and the rest of life on the planet.Capitalism without controls, is mere theft.We do owe it to ourselves and our society, to prohibit products which simply aren't good for us either individually or as a society. Highly caffienated products in general are not particularily healthy for individuals or society...they promote poor decision making every bit as much as alcohol or other drugs. Such substance abuse needs to be reduced...my Senator or President is permitted  by law to make major decisions under the influence of any substance...there are no controls on substance abuse in high office. Does this make an sense at all? The President or Congress can be high as a kite and declare war or taxes, and there's nothing to prevent it.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81598]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[wizoddg]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Tue, 23 Oct 2012 13:41:14 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Jon has a point, but...]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81622]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[&quot;Teenagers and young adults&quot; complicate this issue greatly.You really don't want to invoke Darwin for this group.  Most grow up and become responsible.  And I don't want caffeine gone altogether.    Warning labels are necessary to protect both sides of the issue; ie, the  group of irresponsible buyersAND the companies who make this stuff. &quot;WARNING, don'tstick your foot under the lawnmower, even when it's not running&quot;, some folks need that message.  Even you and Ineed to be reminded that feet under lawnmowers is NEVERa good idea.  And overdoseing on caffeine  is just naturalfor some folks to try; and this is where it becomes a medicalissue if the warning is there.  Otherwise, if there is no warninglabel, it becomes a medical issue AND a lawsuit.  Big hunksof highly radioactive ore don't come with warning labels, butmost consumer items  need a &quot;read me first&quot;.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.smartplanet.com/forum/discussions/1-12222-81622]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[bill1514@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Tue, 23 Oct 2012 13:27:18 -0700</pubDate>
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