The business of highly-caffeinated energy drinks worth Tk 12 billion (1200 crore) being marketed annually goes unregulated as there is no government wing to look into their standard and ensure health safety.
Neither the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) nor the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) is entrusted with the task of looking into the ingredients being used in the drinks.
The annual consumption of energy drinks, on an average, is more than 480 million bottles worth Tk 12 billion, according to the sector insiders.
According to a BSTI official, the highly caffeinated and carbonated energy drinks were not being marketed with any approval from them.
He said: "Currently more than a dozen of local and foreign brands of energy drinks are there in the market and we know nothing about the ingredients being used in the drinks and how far they are safe for human health."
A sales manager of a Dhaka-based distributor said some locally-manufactured drinks were in greater demand than the imported ones and it was increasing every month.
He said young people were mainly the consumers of such drinks and the demand was increasing every month.
A BSTI staffer said: "As no brand of energy drinks is under our control, the narcotics control department may deal with production, import and marketing of such beverages and see whether they use any sedatives or any narcotics."
He said despite not complying with any classification or any particular standard set by the government, the business was going on unabated.
An official in the ministry of industries (MoI) said: "We have taken a move to reduce the caffeine levels in the carbonated soft drinks and the proposal is currently lying with the law ministry for its vetting."
He said the approved caffeine level in the soft drinks is 200 part per million (ppm) and it was proposed to lower it to 145 ppm.
The MoI official said: "Now we have no idea about the ingredients used in the energy drinks."
A senior official serving at a company that has grabbed a major share of the local market for carbonated soft drinks said: "While bottling energy drinks we follow all the specifications as allowed for soft drinks."
When contacted, an official of another major player in the local market for energy drinks said: "We do have BSTI approval for production and marketing of energy drinks."
But a BSTI official refuting his claim said: "Energy drinks are not under our supervision and if someone uses our approval logo it will be a crime."
An official of another energy drinks exporting company said: "We export our products to Middle East countries as there is a rising demand for them."
He said: "But locally we face trouble as our officials do not understand the difference between narcotics and energy drinks."
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