Middlebury College’s Dining Services halting sale of energy drinks

The Middlebury Campus reported that Middlebury College’s Dining Services will soon stop the sale of energy drinks, such as Red Bull and 5-Hour Energy. The ban will come into effect on March 7, it added.

According to the student newspaper, the decision has come as a conclusion of a debate at the Middlebury, Vt., campus that kicked off on January 19, when Dining Software intern Myles Kamisher-Koch came up with a scientific research at a Community Council meeting.

She added that the health risks of energy drinks don’t go with the Dining Service mission statement, which partially noted ‘Nourish and nurture today and tomorrow by sustaining mind, body, and earth’.

In a study, Kamisher-Koch said it has been discovered that nearly 25% of today’s drinkers mix alcoholic beverages and energy drinks together.

The Middlebury Campus reported that the decision declared at Middlebury was signed by Executive Director of Food Service Dan Detora, and mentioned that elevated alcohol intake, raised chances of driving while intoxicated, increased likelihood of use of other intoxicating substance and also boosted involvement in high-risk sexual activity and other health issues.

The ban has a precedent too, as in September 2011 the University of New Hampshire issued a statement describing that it won’t sell energy drinks in its retail and vending locations anymore, starting in January 2012.

It mentioned similar concerns: “Students who mixed alcohol and energy drinks reported double the incidence rates of injuring themselves, requiring medical attention, and being taken advantage of sexually than those who drank only alcohol”.

Three days later, UNH come up with another statement saying that the ban isn’t going to be implemented. The statement mentioned that the university data failed to find clear medical proof of regular patterns of caffeine abuse or of alcohol abuse intensifying by energy drinks usage among UNH students.