By Zhao Qian

In response to a mass recall of thousands of cases of Red Bull, a popular energy drink, reported in Taiwan over the weekend, Chinese company representatives have given the local supply the all clear.

Taiwan’s China Times newspaper reported Saturday that Taiwanese authorities had confiscated nearly 18,000 cases of Red Bull imported from Austria because they contained slight traces of cocaine.

“We have no relation with Austria Red Bull,” Zhang Lei, a principal from China Red Bull, told the Global Times yesterday, among growing concerns from consumers.

Chinese mainland media, including ifeng.com and sohu.com, published the news Sunday, initiating polls to measure consumer reaction.

In an official statement Sunday evening, China Red Bull reiterated that all of its drink products were cocaine free and safe to consume. Zhang said that drinks produced by the Austria-based company had not been imported onto the Chinese mainland.

He said that the Austrian and Chinese companies were completely unrelated.

“The China-based company uses the brand of Red Bull, which belongs to Thailand Red Bull, the shareholder of China Red Bull,” Zhang said.

He added, “We make a little changes about the formula.”

The caffeine dosage in Red Bull drinks varies in different countries and regions due to different food safety standards, Zhang explained. “Customers can drink China Red Bull without anxiety.”

All of the China-based company’s products measure up to the requirements of the country’s Food Safety Law and other related standards by the State Food and Drug Administration, the company stated.

“We have already sent some sample drinks to related food quality supervision centers and asked them for their detection,” Zhang said.

The confiscation in Taiwan involved 17,165 cases of Red Bull worth around NT$25 million ($781,000) from warehouses of the product’s importer, Nanlien International Corp, reported the China Times.

Two supermarkets in Hong Kong Sunday stopped selling Red Bull drinks imported from Austria, waiting for results from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department of Hong Kong, the First Financial Daily reported yesterday.

Controversy surrounding the energy drink has been widely reported in previous years.

In 2000, Ross Cooney, an 18 year old from Ireland, died just hours after drinking Red Bull. An inquest jury later ruled that the teenager had died as a result of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome, but called for an inquiry into high-caffeine energy drinks, according to a Medical News Today report at the time.

In response, China Red Bull issued a statement that local products were safe to drink.