Warning about 'world's strongest energy drink'

The "world's strongest energy drink" is coming to Rotorua - but a health expert is warning people to think twice before taking a sip.

Adult shop Wild Things will be the first in Rotorua to stock Ammo energy drink, the latest product from controversial company London Underground.

Wild Things owner Sue Rutherford ordered the drink yesterday and said it would probably be in store this week.

London Underground, which is better known for its range of legal high products, launched Ammo in Auckland at the Rugby World Cup opening ceremony, but it wasn't the first time the public got a taste.

The original Ammo energy drink was removed from shelves in 2005 because it contained the now illegal stimulant benzylpiperazine (BZP), a key ingredient in banned party pills.

Now BZP free, a London Underground employee said he hoped the drink would be popular nationwide.

He said it was the taurine levels which made Ammo "four times stronger" than any other energy drink.

"It's hard to prove it's the strongest out there but it's also hard to prove it's not," he said.

The Daily Post asked for more information but he said he couldn't say anything more and the director was unavailable because he was in the United States.

Clinical nutrition expert and Bay of Plenty spokeswoman for Dieticians New Zealand Cathy Khouri said most New Zealanders already had twice the amount of protein, which contains taurine, needed daily and didn't need any more.

"Ammo is very easy to pick up but think twice ... having an excess of any nutrients can have implications."

She said the main concerns with energy drinks were heart palpitations, an inability to stay focused and diuretic effects.

It would be particularly concerning if children or people with underlying health conditions were drinking it, she said.

Ammo contains 29.2g of sugar, 80g caffeine and a cocktail of 20 other minerals, vitamins and amino acids.