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Red Bull, the energy drink that claims instant restoration of vitality, was found to contain cocaine in a test conducted by the government. Traces of cocaine ranging from 0.1 to 0.3 microgram per litre were found in five of the 21 samples in the test. The five samples, including Red Bull Simply Cola, Red Bull Energy Drink and Red Bull Sugar-Free Drink, were imports from the United Kingdom and Austria. The test did not find cocaine in Red Bull products from Vietnam and Thailand. The authority would not order a ban on the sale of Red Bull products, according to Wong Pik-yee, Commissioner for Narcotics, as not all test samples contained cocaine.
Since 27 May, the government had collected a total of 21 samples of Red Bull products from local retail outlets and the retailing industry to undertake test. One of the samples came from the U.K. and 9 others from Austria. The test showed that the U.K. sample of Red Bull Simply Cola contained traces of cocaine at the level of 0.3 microgram per litre. The other four samples of Red Bull Energy Drink and Red Bull Sugar-Free Drink from Austria also contained between 0.1 and 0.2 microgram per litre of cocaine. However, five samples of Red Bull Energy Drink and Red Bull Sugar-Free Drink also from Austria did not contain cocaine, according to test results.
On the other hand, the test did not find any cocaine in the six samples of “Red Bull Vitality Drink” from Thailand and five other samples of “Red Bull Energy Drink” from Vietnam.
Wong Pik-yee advised consumers not to buy or use Red Bull products imported from Austria and the U.K. for the time being. The Narcotics Division confirmed that the Hong Kong office of Red Bull, i.e. the local distributor of Red Bull Energy Drink and Red Bull Sugar-Free Drink, had submitted batch details of the two products to them on 4 June and demanded the Division to do sample testing. The Red Bull Hong Kong Office wished to clarify through the sample test whether the trace amounts of cocaine found in some batches of Red Bull products were caused by a systemic problem or merely individual cases relating only to specific batches or lot numbers. ■translated by開明
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