Need energy to cram for an exam the night before? The answer is simple: drink Red Bull. Two 355 ml cans of Red Bull Energy Drink contain about the same amount of caffeine as two to three cups of coffee. Thus, it would seem the perfect solution to a sleepless night.

What many students lack to know though is that too much intake of Red Bull could in fact cause an opposite effect. On several occasions, consuming two cans of Red Bull in half an hour on an empty stomach led to two seizures of  an 18-year-old student. Besides the Red Bull, the hospital did not detect any other drug in his system.  He was rather a health teenager as he did not have a record of seizures or head injuries in the past.

In addition to this case, research presented at the American Academy of Neurology reported that four patients between the ages of 19 to 28 suffered seizures after heavy consumption of the drinks. Although Red Bull has its pros to keep students energized and awake, I believe the cons outweigh the benefits. The opportunity cost of consuming Red Bull is the unnecessary health risk. Apart from Red Bull, there are other substitutes for a student to study such as coffee or simply avoid procrastinating.

When I see the numerous GAP stores at various shopping malls in Canada and the United States, I think of a clothes paradise for infants, toddlers and children of all ages. Their window advertisements portray each child’s happiness and blissfulness in their freshly new, clean attire.

However, is this a genuine representation? With reference to Gabriela De Sousa’s blog, after searching the streets of New Delhi, undercover investigators found nothing except sweatshops producing clothing for Gap. If every consumer were to understand and experience the hardship and suffering of the exploited children, I believe consumers would encourage government intervention and aim to minimize their purchases from GAP and invest in a substitute good.

GAP’s decision to enforce child labour in their production of clothes causes the corporation to be susceptible to a range of criticisms that risk their brand image in the market place. Although GAP has the potential to mass produce their products at a low cost, there is, without a doubt, consequences GAP must address. GAP’s continuous use of sweatshops forces them to compromise their brand image as their product line is tainted with children’s misery and their search for better working conditions.

Has the widely known Taiwanese delight encountered the unexpected? For approximately thirty years, DEHP was undetected in Taiwan’s food market because the toxin was not required for testing. However, in late May 2011, Taiwanese health authorities appealed for 168 food processors to recall more than 1 million tainted items, including the country’s renowned bubble tea drink. Recently, manufacturers have been exposed using a plasticizer labelled DEHP, which was commonly found in bubble tea drinks, to enhance pigment in their products. Furthermore, DEHP was used in place of more expensive ingredients.

Despite all the possible health threats Taiwan posed to its nation and neighbouring business partners of oversea countries, manufacturers persistently continued developing products contaminated with DEHP which resulted in the downfall of the economy’s market. In hopes of earning a greater profit, Taiwan’s manufacturers sacrificed their business ethics to release unreliable products to the public. Moreover, because bubble tea drinks are savored worldwide Taiwan’s market is inevitably affected. Nonetheless, the Taiwanese manufacturers’ practices in business ethics are questionable.