Spike Shooter Pulled From 7-Eleven Stores
Biotest must be enjoying all this publicity.
CBS news have done another story on the Spike Shooter energy drink. One school has already banned the drink, and other schools in the area are sending letters home to parents.
However there are some curious things about the story.
7-Eleven were handing out free samples of Spike Shooter to high school students. That strikes me as being a little irresponsible. Who was doing the handing out – was it Biotest or 7-Eleven? Does it make sense to you to hand out a product to high school kids that specifically says “not for under 18s”?
One guy featured in the story was sent to the emergency room and diagnosed with a “caffeine overdose”. We know that Spike Shooter has 300mg of caffeine. That seems a little low for an overdose – given that you could get the same amount of caffeine out of a Starbucks Grande brewed coffee.
So – the problem could be:
(1) The synergistic effect of the N-Acetyl-L-tyrosine and Yohimbe Hcl.
(2) The unfortunate guy in the story was quite caffeine-sensitive and/or had low-tolerance and/or had not eaten anything for a while.
(3) He had already consumed caffeine prior to this.
His symptoms were quite serious – increased blood pressure, heart rate. He claimed he was “going blue” and shaking.
I don’t believe in blanket bans of products simply because people don’t take warnings seriously. However – if some of these diet supplement companies are going to push their drinks into the teen demographic (either overtly or by subtle branding tactics) — then we are going to have a problem.
34 Comments
>chris March 31st, 2007 5:24 pm
>its 16 and under not 18 and under get your facts right
I work at 7-11. The single cans are 16+ but the multi packs are 18+ (read the box sometime).
The 7-11 I work at only sells Spike to 18+. They didn’t say why but my guess is fear of being sued. If a teenager overdoses on spike (it’s not the caffeine, it’s the 25000% DV of Vitamin B12) we could be sued for selling a dangerous product to a minor (they can’t legally make an informed decision). An adult can make an informed decision so if they drink too much, it’s their fault.
Hmm thats sounds like bullshit to me. I’m 14, wiegh 93 lbs and can drink a 22 oz bottle of nos (343 mg of caffeine) and not die. Note I will have an extreme energy rush and will be hyper for 3-5 hours. I’ve drank 2 sobe no fears (348 mg of caffeine) and I did feel a little funny (my chest was pounding, ect) but stil no e.r.
I work at a gym in north carolina called peak fitness. They have tons of spikes in the cooler. Im 16 and i drink these a lot. The warning on the back is just to protect spike from getting sued if some stupid kid that cant handle caffeine goes and drinks 5 of these. 300mgs of caffeine is not really that much anyways.
hey, bottom line it costs me less to buy one spike than 4 red bulls. this product is a life-saver and money saver for anyone who puts in long hours at work or school. if you can’t read warning labels, or you just dont care that is your problem.
By reading many of these posts I can tell there are several fans of this drink but from my personal experience I honestly felt like my heart was going to thump out of my chest. I felt so bad I was shaking, felt uncomfortable and absolutely sick to my stomach. Most of this more than likely had to do with the fact that i hadn’t eatin in several hours aprox. 5hrs if I were to guess. Now don’t get me wrong I LOVE energy drinks like many of you have said I wouldn’t know what to do with myself though out the day without it I’ve often drank several cans of other companies energy drinks in a day often in immediate succession of one another with no problem my “drug of choice” being either the classic redbull and my new fav being amp energy. So I thought nothing of simply drinking an 8 oz can of spike but that had more kick than a 4 pack of redbull which I could consume with no problem. However considering my self an energy drink pro I completely ignored the recommendation of drinking half first then the rest if needed a mistake I feel many people are capable of. But I suppose consumed in proper doses it can be a virtue however I know I will stick to the tried and true and amp or redbull for now.
Spike makes my pee bright orange… makes me sing musicals on the crapper. makes my farts sound like cats in heat. makes me want to buy a Kia. makes my lips dry, the back of my mouth sore and my neck hurt. makes me want to do the crab walk in Times Square. makes me want to lick stinky carpet. makes me want to go get a Anthrax shot. makes me want to wear shorts in the winter. makes me want to slap a fish. makes want to wear all red & black. makes me snore and talk in my sleep. makes me want to drink Wesson oil. makes me want to stomp on my own big toe. makes my butt greasy and hurt when I wake up in the morning while camping alone w/ my scoutmaster. makes my deodorant fail. makes me stare at t&a all day long.
they still stock them in gnc stores and if u havent tried it, you’ll probably love it. i drink redline and spike about 5 days a week and they really get u pumped up for a long day 
yea those spikes are no joke, i drank one earlier today for the first time and i had about the same symptoms as the guy mentioned in the article above, just not to the same extreme and im used to drinking a couple monsters and red bulls a day.
If the people actually followed what it is on the warning label then there shouldn’t be a problem.
Yes it was wrong to be giving out free samples to anyone anywhere since it is 18 and over only.
It’d be just like giving out free samples of ciggerretes to the same people.
I remember at the X-games in 08, i nearly passed out from drinking 3 of these. They were free, and it was all there was to drink. I wasn’t going to pay 5 dollars for a bottle of water.
After experiencing that, i drink this product every once in a while and let the just one can last me for a week.
This drink isn’t suppose to be fun to drink like Monster, and Rockstar.
It’s only use is for energy.
You can get Spike at the Vitamin Shoppe stores. I split a can of this with my boyfriend and was able to take a 1/2 hour nap 20 minutes later. When I woke up I was still tired and went to go for a run … yeah, not more than 10 minutes into it I had intense stomach cramps and wasn’t sure if I was going to throw up or needed to find a bathroom ASAP. It ended up being the latter. Unfortunately, Spike did absolutely nothing for me. I consume a moderate amount of caffeine daily (coffee, occasional diet soda) so I’m not a stranger to it. I never got the energy kick. In fact, I was joking with my boyfriend that I felt more tired than before I drank it. He didn’t really experience any “intense” energy either. He said he felt “weird” and a little “off”. I definitely won’t be drinking Spike again but I think people should be able to make their own decisions and they should know how sensitive they are to caffeine.
I’ve tried this drink, and no lie, it’s quite powerful.I have a very high tolerance to caffeine, but this drink made me shake uncontrollably. In my opinion, I believe that all energy drinks should not be sold to anyone under the age of 18. What do high school students need an energy drink for? At this age, these teens should have more than enough energy to go through the day (sometimes night too) without the aid of a beverage.
As for the beverage, the first time I drank it, I drank it without reading the disclaimer/warning on the side of the can. DO NOT DRINK ON AN EMPTY STOMACH.
People should really do their research before going “gung-ho” and rushing to try the new craze. If a high school student drinks till he/she is drunk, drives home, crashes into a tree and dies who or what is at fault? Is it the beer for intoxicating, the car manufacturer for not designing a car not considered safe when operated by an intoxicated driver, the tire company for not making a sticky tire, or the tree for being there at the wrong time?
Yea, I went to the school that the drink got pullleed gfugnzdfjgnvxc mi havbewe bobies
I’m not sure where the rest of you are from, but in southwestern VA it is still sold at the 7-11 stores i frequent
THIS STUFF IS LIKE LEGAL CRACK. ITS AWESOME, AND WORKS VERY WELL FOR THE DAY OR YOUR WORK OUT. I KNOW THAT SOME MAX MUSCLE’S SELL THEM ALSO