Shark Energy Drink
February 6th, 2006
Here’s where it all began. I sent this to Dr Ben Goldacre at the Guardian, and what do you know, he published it!
Hi Bad Science,
Just writing to tell you how much I enjoy your column, especially as a science graduate stuck in a particularly non-science job. In the spirit of finding other outlets for my science, here’s a link for you:
This was a Red Bull clone handed out to me by underdressed women at a club, and is aimed at clubbers, apparently. It claims to be derived from “traditional Thai recipes” (who knew they were big into clubbing?) and the promotional literature that came with the samples states:
“The Dextrose in SHARK comes entirely from Grape Sugar, which in turn improves the quality of the other carbohydrates, and rapidly increases your energy levels.”
Exactly how it improves the quality of other carbohydrates isn’t explained, and the girls handing out the drink didn’t know either.
“The high quality composition of SHARK is supplemented by B complex vitamins and the essential protein Lysine.”
Hmm. If they don’t know the difference between proteins and amino acids, I begin to doubt their science. They also tout the presence of Glucuronolactone, which is supposed to help assist liver function in removing harmful substances. Just after this, they recommend mixing SHARK with Vermouth and Absolut vodka. Which seems to make the glucuronolactone a bit obsolete.
So that’s SHARK, keep up the good work - Bad Science is an inspiration to people all over the place.
Frank Swain
See this as it appeared in the Guardian.
The Bad Science Homepage.
Entry Filed under: The Letters
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27 Comments Add your own
1. Alicia | November 14th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
Weather it’s good for me or NOT I still have to say that Shark energy drink is 100 % my FAVORITE energy drink on the market. they recently started selling it here in Buffalo NY and it beats all the other drinks hands down, and I DO think it IS one of the healthier options for an energy drink!!! (Also a REALLY great mixer, it masks just about any alcohol VERY well!
The thing about it is that instead of pumping you up full of synthetic caffiene, it uses the body’s natural “go signals” by having a high carb level, and then with just an eentsy bit of naturally derived caffiene it has just the kick I need when I don’t want to end up with the jitters just to avoid an afternoon nap!
This stuff has been on the market in other countries for over 40 years, and if you go anywhere else other than USA, they HATE red bull & LOVE the SHARK!! If you get the chance, TRY THIS STUFF!
2. Frank the SciencePunk | November 14th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Wow! You must really like Shark Energy Drink, because my records show you posted this comment from Horsham, PA. That’s an 800 mile round trip for some of that caffeinated sugary goop. AND you’ve posted identical comments on other sites discussing how much you love Shark.
I particularly like the fact that you go for a “healthier option” when getting drunk out of your skull.
Leaving aside your questionable claims about “natural”, “carbs”, etc, I have a fun project:
I want to know where this comment came from, I need your help, SP readers! Here are the details:
email: Alicia_Fortuna@hotmail.com
IP: 64.115.92.42, static-64-115-92-42.isp.broadviewnet.net
Whoever can prove (or disprove) that Alicia works for Shark will get a big fat SciencePunk prize. Get Googling, friends!
3. Fred | November 16th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
WOW! Perhaps you should stick to your science, Frank, as you are so far off base on some of this that it is a wonder that you can even try to discuss this coherently.
On the ‘help you’ matter, perhaps you should re-read the post that Alicia left, as your records are completely off base if you really believe that WHOIS can tell you where a poster might actually be from. It is to laugh that you thing she is from PA.
As to the matter of Shark being a ‘clone’ of Red Bull, again, you need to get your facts straight, or actually take the time to do some real research. Oh…I forgot…you are into science, and looking for statistical facts that are not science related must be a problem for you. Well here you go!
Shark could not possibly be a ‘clone’ of Red Bull, as Shark as been around and marketed since 1965. If anything, Red Bull would be the ‘clone’ of Shark, not the other way around.
Additionally, many of the ingredients that you so conveniently put down as being part of Shark, are also part of Red Bull. So in you are going to use flaunt your Science, you should at least make sure that you are putting down both beverages, and not just one for having the same contents and issues.
4. Alicia | November 16th, 2007 at 5:57 pm
hahaha Run, run as fast as you can! You can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man! Here’s a couple hints - I’m definitely not in PA I’m in Buffalo - and I have studied nutrition extensively. I enjoy energy drinks and I have a genuine interest in them. Also, SHARK is actually a better nutritional option than the other energy drinks out there because caffiene is a highly addictive drug so the less you take in, the better! it is much better for the body to gain energy froma carbohydrate rather than caffiene, plus the caffiene in shark is ONLY naturally derived! If it comes from nature it is better for you hands DOWN! but anyways, good luck to everyone on figuring out if I work for Shark or not, I’ll tell you this much though, I do like Shark so much I think I will go try to work for them so thanks for the idea!!! So….
do *I* get a prize for starting this whole contest? haha
~Alicia
5. Frank the SciencePunk | November 16th, 2007 at 11:52 pm
Woohoo! It’s night of the drongos here at SciencePunk. It’s so god-awful sad that I spend my Friday nights watching low budget horror films and replying to nonsense like this, and even worse that I enjoy it so much. Anyway…
Fred:
Dude, the IP address discussion is sooo last week, see here.
And I think it is you, and not I, that needs to get their facts straight: Shark’s own website states the product was launched in Austria in 1998. No mention of a 1965 outing. And seeing I was handed free samples in ~2006, I’d hazard a guess that it arrived in the UK around then - making it a late-arriving contender to Red Bull and therefore a clone of it.
And finally, I won’t pick on Red Bull as they happily admit they’re selling as close to speed-in-a-can as they can legally get away with. Besides, it’s far more fun to pick on their other products.
—
Alicia Alicia Alicia, you claim to have studied nutrition extensively and yet you’ve swallowed alt-med bollocks about “natural” meaning “healthy”. I do relish the chase though, and I hope we find out why you feel it necessary to post identical nonsense about Shark all over the internet.
6. Kathy | November 28th, 2007 at 9:39 pm
Please tell me where in Buffalo I can buy it.
7. Frank the SciencePunk | November 29th, 2007 at 10:11 am
Now Kathy, why would you want a can of caffeinated sugary goop sold by morons to morons who think it’s somehow “healthy”?
8. kathy | November 29th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Who said it was good for me or healthy?
I asked where to buy it, because I want it.
Thanks for you concern, but worry about yourself not someone you don’t know.!
9. Red Bull Lover | December 7th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Hey Frank, is it possible that Alicia works for Fortuna Enterprises? They are a Buffalo broker who is headed into the beverage business by distributing the Shark.
Her email is Alicia_fortuna@hotmail.com?
Their website is http://www.fortunaenterprises.com
coincidence? I bet if you called fortuna enterprises they could tell you where to buy that Shark!
10. Jonny Francis | December 14th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
You are correct in assuming that Shark launched in America in 2004. The formula was created in 1965, 7 years before Red Bull.
Any time you have a market leader; ie.. Red Bull, people are going to naturally assume “everything is a knock off”.
Until you try it, and see for yourself that it actually works and tastes better than more all of the competition. Shark Has won Bureau Veritas award for excellence in Mfg, from their parent company Osotspa Int’l. An award that seems to have eluded the fantastic Red Bull.
We have had great success in America thus far, and will continue to inform America about Shark Energy, the better tasting better for you energy drink.
More information on Shark Energy can be found at:
(gratuitous and shameless link removed)
Thanks Brother
Jonny
Shark USA
11. Frank the SciencePunk | December 14th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
WOULD YOU USELESS SHOWER OF BASTARDS PLEASE STOP SPAMMING MY PAGE?!
Shark Energy Drink is caffeinated sugar syrup marketed with pseudoscience and bogus health claims.
If you really want to add to the debate, Alicia / Jonny, why don’t you explain how the “grape sugar” in Shark “improves the quality of the other carbohydrates”?
12. Jonny | December 19th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
Dear Frank the “science punk”,
First off all why are you name calling? I’m not a “Bastard” because I was searching my product and found your rinky dink site. I decided to post a comment, and now your bent out of shape over it. And insulting me on top of it. Thats why you have a blogging page isnt it Franky? So people can discuss topics?
Well to be completely honest with you, why don’t you just remove this shark discussion page and be done with these lousy “Bastards” all together? I’m sure there are plenty other wholesome topics that can be found on sciencepunk.com, like who is the “sexiest scientist” or videos of choochoo trains in the snow.
Don’t forget where you come from and if you want a little advice , don’t rock the boat Mr. Cocky, especially when your website has 1500 visitors a month.. Thats a barely drop in the bucket there wally.
I did a little research myself, and more often than not.. your website is listed with sites such as break.com, stupidvideos.com and collegehumor.com - silly joke sites..
Fix that, for petes sake..
And as far as “how it improves the quality of the other carbohydrates”
We both know there are a many many different variety of grapes that can be found all over the world, if properly grown with precise iron levels in the soil and when harvested properly grape sugar is the carbohydrate with the highest glycemic index. Which is a source of almost an immediate boost of energy…The loss of water, electrolytes and carbohydrates are the direct source of fatigue, and what causes an active body to feel the effects of exerted energy. When the highest levels of grape glucose are introduced they assist carbohydrates and are burned faster and more efficiently. Thats why energy drinks are not meant to be consumed several times a day. If your drinking a true energy drink not a “thirst quencher” then you’ll only need one a day. It is important to always hydrate with water, before and after physical training or exercise. Energy drinks are not meant to “replace” water.
The caffeine in Shark Energy is Natural too, extracted from guarana berry..
13. Frank the SciencePunk | December 20th, 2007 at 3:06 am
Christ, I’ve had a long day, all I want to do is sleep, and instead I have to answer this troll. Here goes…
Jonny:
1) You choose to comment here, you run the risk of being sworn at. Welcome to SciencePunk. Your chances of being sworn at increase exponentially every time you try to flog your product instead of addressing my criticisms. This is indeed a place to discuss topics. Not to hawk your wares.
2) I won’t be removing this page, I quite like that it comes in the top ten Google search results for “Shark Energy Drink”. I don’t know what your problem with train snow plows is, they fucking rock.
3) Before you get too cocky about site traffic, get your numbers right. SciencePunk pulls in around 1,500 page downloads a day. In fact, according to this tool, my Google PageRank is 3 out of ten. Yours is 2. Not so smug now, huh?
4) You say that like it’s a bad thing. CollegeHumour.com is ace. If I can make people laugh, and slip them a little science on the side, I’ll consider this entire project a success.
5) Finally, the science bit. Well, what passes for science in your office anyway. First of all, let’s call a spade a spade. Grape sugar is glucose, the same as any other glucose, and no amount of fancy farming is going to change that. If you want to be specific, it’s dextrorotatory glucose, one of two stereoisomers, which we could also call dextrose monohydrate, but you wouldn’t want those nasty chemical-sounding things in an All-Natural-Ancient-Thai-Recipe drink now, would you?
You say:
When the highest levels of grape glucose are introduced they assist carbohydrates and are burned faster and more efficiently.
Here you’ve simply reiterated the original claim without validating it at all. Do you have any evidence that Shark can perform such a task?
You’ve also decided to slip a thinly-veiled promotion in at the end, and tempting though it is to call you a tub-thumping guttermonkey, instead I’m going to mock your science. Natural caffeine is identical to synthetic caffeine. Where it comes from makes no difference to its chemical properties.
So until you’re ready to admit that Shark is simply caffeinated sugar goop in a can, devoid of any special qualities, that cannot improve the quality of any other carbohydrates, and that Lysine is an amino acid and not a protein; or can prove the contrary using clinical research published in a peer-reviewed journal, kindly fuck off.
Yours respectfully,
Frank
14. Rob | December 20th, 2007 at 9:33 am
Jonny wrote
LOL. Yeah, Frank don’t get cocky and the rock the boat, else you know… badda bing badda boom…
Don’t forget where from either, Jonny. It’s important to remember where you come from. Especially when you’re trying to sell sugary water and your website has ghastly animation and silly noises.
15. woodchopper | December 20th, 2007 at 9:36 am
Frank, you met an undressed lady in a club and you asked her “Exactly how it improves the quality of other carbohydrates”.
I proclaim you the ubernerd. May we all bow down to your dedication to uncovering the psuedoscientific nonsense that is Shark.
16. Tristan | December 20th, 2007 at 10:24 am
Frank,
I once tasted a can of Shark and thought it tasted a bit nicer than Red Bull. So there. That’s 100% clinical proof that Shark is the best drink in the whole wide work EVER!
Oh, and the cans are made of 100% natural aluminium, so they’re better for you than nasty allopathic sythetic aluminium cans.
Tristan
17. JQH | December 20th, 2007 at 11:25 am
Excellent Frank.
Funny how they slag off your ranking but still think it’s worth their while to plant their marketting here.
Trolls obviously don’t do irony.
18. manigen | December 20th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Of course they don’t do irony. Iron is a nasty chemical that poisons your all-natural body.
19. RobbieH | December 20th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Woh there manigen, you’re confusing synthetic iron (horrible stuff from rocks, rocks I tell you, you’re body is not a rock) and natural iron (mmm lovely sweet blood).
Alicia/Fred/Jonny you are a strange bunch/person.
20. Lisa | December 21st, 2007 at 11:52 am
‘When the highest levels of grape glucose are introduced they assist carbohydrates and are burned faster and more efficiently’
maybe it’s my hangover, but can anyone tell me how glucose can assist carbohydrates? those words just don’t make sense together. assist them to do what?
21. Will | January 15th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Bump—
Whoa!!! natural = Healthy???
Wowsers where is that cream of sumac soup or that Poison Ive jelly I need for my all natural wheat gluten free bread..
As to the natural caffeine… Coffee is natural.. so it is good right?
mmmmm 100% arabica dark Sumatran… Oh this is going to taste so yummy, wait a moment let me ad some shark to the coffee and see if it makes the arabica turn into robusto.
Thanks Frank I get a kick out of your site daily…
Will
22. Frank the SciencePunk | January 16th, 2008 at 12:24 am
flattery will get you everywhere…
I’m totally hankering for a castor nut butter and poison ivy jelly sandwich now.
23. nina | January 16th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Jonny: grape sugar is the carbohydrate with the highest glycemic index. … When the highest levels of grape glucose are introduced they assist carbohydrates and are burned faster and more efficiently. That’s why energy drinks are not meant to be consumed several times a day.
I though foods with high glycemic indexes were bad…” Recent data suggest that a high intake of rapidly absorbed carbohydrates, which is characterized by a high glycemic load (a measure of carbohydrate quality and quantity), may increase the risk of coronary heart disease by aggravating glucose intolerance and dyslipidemia.” (Liu S, Manson JE. Dietary carbohydrates, physical inactivity, obesity, and the ‘metabolic syndrome’ as predictors of coronary heart disease. Curr Opin Lipidol. 2001 Aug;12(4):395-404.) i.e: bad for you. Also, you’d have to keep drinking these energy drinks because of the fast jolt of energy and the inevitable crash that comes with it a short while later. Something with a lower glycemic index will give you energy for a longer period of time. Where did these people study nutrition?
24. Dirty D | February 6th, 2008 at 2:17 am
wow….ok shark isnt healthy, neither is red bull.
shark give jus as much if not a lil more energy than a red bull, but doesnt last nearly as long, although the crash isnt as hard.
i do believe shark is very addicting, taste bad, not as bad as red bull, but that lil wile with a huge SUGAR rush is pretty good.
i prefer shark over red bull, and drinking a couple a day im probably gonna die at age of 30, but all well, ill die drinking a shark =Þ
ill drink red bull, red bull taste bad but the rush last slightly longer, drink 2 and ill have a nice lil crash for the night.
i cant find sharks anywhere any more, last 1 i saw was bout 3-4 months ago at a gas store. they were selling them 1/2 off cuz no1 liked the flavour, this is also a gas store that has no spot for red bull =P tons of Lost though.
red bulls good, dont get me wrong, but i prefer shark. idk if its healthy or not, its a energy drink. if u drink alchoholic beverages then why do u care if your energy drink is healthy ffs.
any1 seen a shark recently in ATX? these red bulls just taste to bad for the hard crash i get, better stinking to a monster.
ya, i know ima get jumped for this 1, but i h8 monsters, no energy at all. i can chug 3-4 and barely get a rush. Lost is a pretty good energy drink tho, taste better than most, although still kinda weak, but its something ill drink over a monster.
Although i kinda like monster java, gives less energy than a reg. monster but taste good.
anyway, back to shark and red bull.
they both an awsome energy drink
the shark formula was created before red bull.
red bull good if u was a long strong rush with hard crash
shark good if u want a short stronger rush, but the crash isnt as hard. that may jus be me though, different ingredients affect ppl differently, and i jus get a harder crash from red bull.
so maby its jus a factor of ingredients is why i like shark better.
or maby i just do cuz i do.
but if i had to rank the number 1 energy drink
ill have to choose shark, red bull isnt jus my drink, but its still better than most.
25. Santa | February 15th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Red bull and shark are both just caffienated sugary goo. Caffiene is caffiene and sugar is sugar regardless of where it comes from. Both products will give you a rush and then make you feel like crap afterward. How much of a rush you get and how much you feel like crap afterward varies between individuals, but the fact is, either one can be called a knock-off of the other because they’re both essentially the same product. They just taste a little diffferent. I’m willing to bet that 5-Hour Energy is actually a quality product compared to red bull and shark, but I’ve never tried it because I don’t think any energy drink is worth $6 a can.
26. Joe Dirt | July 6th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
I think your all jackass! The Shark guy should learn more about the company he works for! Red Bull was founded in 1982 released in 84 by a ex Shark employee! Yes Shark was first poeple.. hate to tell you that.. Read sometime! Grape suger is still suger.. None of these things are good for you but who cares.. thats not why we all drink them now is it? If you like it drink it… if not.. dont its that simple.. and FYI do a 5 sec of research and you will find Alisha is an ex employee of Shark/ Fortuna… one and the same these days i hear. Ask her now what she thinks and you may get a much diffrent answer…LOL
27. Brook | September 28th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Shark is not a Red Bull clone.
In fact Red Bull is the same product as Krating Daeng (Red Bull in Thai) modified with carbonated water.
Krating Daeng is a knock off of Lipovitan which is “the original energy drink” manufactured by Osotspa.
Osotspa has modified Lipovitan with carbonation to create Shark whick is why they can legitimately claim to be “the original energy drink”
krating daeng (the real knock off) + Carbonated water=Red Bull
Lipovitan (the original) + Carbonated water = Shark, the better tasting energy drink.
To truly appreciate the difference between Shark and Red Bull, you should taste them side by side. You might have a change of heart.
As for the claim to improve the quality of other carbs, who knows, I personally don’t care but I must defend the knock off accusation.
Source:
http://www.osotspa.com
http://www.kratingdaeng.info
wikipedia
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