The Kingdoms war on energy drinks

Shortly after September 11 2001 America announced its war on terror, years later Mexico announced its war on drugs and this Winter Saudi declared war on energy drinks. This is of course an exaggeration of the truth, there has been no declaration of war and in fact no outlawing of the drinks. However, Saudi has become one of the first countries to clamp down on the selling of these drinks.

In early March, the Ministry of Interior presented a study showing the effects of energy drinks on the consumers.

This resulted in strict rules being introduced to protect children and adults from drinking too much of the beverage.

These restrictions include:
- All energy drinks not to be sold at any Governmental, health or education building.
- A label must be produced on every can explaining the dangers of drinking energy drinks in large quantities.
- All advertising of the drinks will now be illegal, including the sponsorships of any events

Many people in the West and across most of the world may see these steps as another form of control by the Saudi government or may even see it as an irrational decision. But what effects are these drinks really having on our body that caused the laws to be implemented?

This week I have decided to gather as much available on the web for you to make your own minds up whether the strict laws on energy drinks in the Kingdom are the correct and sensible thing to do. I must say the things I have found out were absolutely astounding in some cases. These are the most interesting facts I have found:

The first fact i found was that the standard energy drink can contain anywhere from 13 to 15 teaspoons of sugar. That is an incredibly unhealthy and unnatural amount of sugar to be consumed at one time. This alone could have a detrimental effect on your body, if you were to consume two cans a day, that would be at least 26 to 30 teaspoons of sugar. Large amounts of sugar effects the amount of knowledge the brain can consume, which is an obvious reason to ban these drinks from schools.

The second thing i discovered was slightly more scary. Most energy drinks contain an amino acid called Carnitine. If you have too much Carnitine, it could lead to illness, seizures and in extreme cases, death. Now, if you are wondering how much of this substance the companies put in their products as I was, then you'd be disappointed to find out that no energy drink company lists how much of this they use in their products. This means a substance that could lead to seizures for the consumer is the same substance being hidden from them.

Finally, since October 2012, there has been reports of 5 deaths and one nonfatal heart attack all relating to the consumption of Monster energy drinks, a company that boasts a 39% share of the energy drinks market. In a market with tens if not hundreds of competitors, just one has killed 5 people. This is worrying and outright shocking that governments around the world are doing nothing to combat the effects that these drinks are having on the people of their countries.

So as Saudi bravely take a stand to become one of the first countries to actively prevent the retail of these drinks, it has become clear that, not only in saudi but the rest of the world, there should be measures implemented to protect consumers from the consumption of these drinks.

Saudi bans 50 baby names…or do they?

On the 16th of March it was reported by multiple foreign and domestic news agencies that 50 names had been banned across Saudi Arabia for any parents wishing to name their children them.

It was reported that these names fell into four categories (reasons for the prohibition of them). These are the categories:
1. Names the Ministry of Interior deemed blasphemous. Names such as Abdul Rasool (worshipper of the prophet) were included in this category as under Islam the teaching is to only worship God and not the prophets.

2. Western influenced names. These include names like Linda, which although common in the West were apparently perceived to be too Western for the Islamic state.

3. Names relating to the Royalty of the Kingdom. Amir (prince) was on the list in this category.

Another interesting name that appeared on this list is Benyamin, an inter-religious name which is a common Muslim name in some countries. It was rumoured that this name had been prohibited as it was seen as a clear connection to an enemy of Saudi Arabia, Benyamin Netanyahu.

However within days of these reports, the Ministry of Interior seized the opportunity to quash the rumours with a statement explaining that there had been no such prohibition and no plans of doing such in the future. They did however emphasise that any names are lawful as long as they adhear to the Islamic law which is in effect in the Kingdom.

Incredible end to police chase in Saudi Arabia

Over the last couple of weeks a video uploaded to YouTube has become viral. Far from the normal bad publicity Saudi and its people seem to encounter, this video show cased how caring and admirable the Saudi public can be.

In the 1:19 minute video we witness a chase involving a truck and many police cruisers, attempting to apprehend the criminal. You notice a man walking on the road, wearing no shoes and dressed in the traditional attire of the Thobe. The truck appeared to lose control and 'spin out' the caring Samaritan seized this opportunity and sprinted over to it, climbed onto the truck, while moving and entered through the drivers window and stopped the truck himself.

The man showed incredible courage and has been admired by thousands of viewers worldwide and become a source of admiration and encouragement for the Saudi public. The Samaritan described as a 'super hero' has had no contact with media so far, but will hopefully be a reminder to local and foreign people of Saudis kindness and integrity.