Qatar follows UAE in ordering Red Bull cocaine tests

Qatar is the latest country to announce it is carrying out tests on popular energy drink Red Bull following reports that traces of cocaine was found in some Red Bull products.

The Supreme Council of Health said in a statement, said samples of Red Bull have already been taken to conduct tests at its central laboratory.

“The Council will announce the results soon after completion of the tests to allay fears of the people and as part of its keenness to protect the public health and safety,” said the statement published in The Peninsula on Thursday.

Qatar's move follows that on the UAE where the General Secretariat Municipalities (GSM) sent out of a circular to all food control sections and departments alerting to them to the fact laboratory tests on Red Bull samples were to be carried out.

The tests follow reports that laboratory analyses on Red Bull products - Red Bull Energy Drink, Red Bull Simply Cola and Red Bull Sugar Free - in Germany, Taiwan and Hong Kong had found tiny amounts of cocaine in the drinks.

Positive analysis by Hong Kong officials prompted the Centre for Food Safety there to order all Red Bull drinks removed from the shelves of major supermarkets, a spokesman said in a statement issued on Monday.

However, the statement added that the amount of cocaine found in the drinks posed little health danger.

Meanwhile, Taiwanese authorities have confiscated close to 18,000 cases of the drink.

On Tuesday a senior official with the UAE's GSM said the reports had prompted tests to be carried out in the Emirates on all Red Bull products.

But, he added that the drink would remain on sale until the results of the tests were available.

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