Shocking! A female student from Shanghai International Studies University was thrown a "foreign object"! Multiple platforms urgently removed the app... What on earth is this?

Expert of this article: Liu Zhijun, Pharmacy Department, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University

On June 12, a piece of news about "a female student at Shanghai International Studies University had an unknown object thrown into her coffee cup by a male classmate from the same school" became a hot topic on the Internet.

Weibo screenshot

Preliminary police investigation confirmed that the boy put half a taurine effervescent tablet into the girl's coffee cup. The effervescent tablet was purchased online.

On the same day, @Shanghai International Studies University issued a notice stating that the students involved had been taken away by the public security authorities for investigation.

On the evening of the 13th, taurine effervescent tablets had been removed from the shelves on many e-commerce platforms.

Many people can't help but wonder: What exactly is taurine effervescent tablets? What are their uses? Is it a sex drug? Is it a poison? Let's read on...

What is Taurine Effervescent Tablet?

Taurine was originally one of the ingredients of the Chinese medicine bezoar. It is also a normal sulfur-containing amino acid in the body. It can regulate the excitability of nerve tissue and body temperature. It has clinical effects of antipyretic, sedative, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-rheumatic, and anticonvulsant. In addition, it can also improve the body's nonspecific immune function.

Currently, the only medicinal taurine includes: ① taurine granules, ② taurine tablets. Each tablet/pack contains 0.4g of taurine, which can be used for children (children 1 year old and above) or adults to relieve fever in the early stages of a cold. It is only limited to patients with initial fever but not high fever.

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Adults can take 3 to 4 packets at most at a time, 3 times a day, for a total of approximately 4.8g of taurine per day.

Therefore, taurine is essentially a sulfur-containing amino acid, which is widely present in various tissues and organs of humans and animals and has no effect on enhancing sexual desire. Therefore, effervescent tablets made of taurine are not sexual drugs.

In fact, many functional drinks also contain a certain amount of taurine. Of course, there are also unscrupulous manufacturers who directly package taurine preparations as "health products that enhance sexual function" and falsely advertise and sell them.

What medicines contain taurine?

Currently, the drugs approved by the country include "Five-dimensional Taurine Oral Solution" in addition to simple taurine granules (0.4g/packet), taurine tablets (0.4g/tablet), and taurine capsules (0.4g/capsule).

Five-dimensional taurine oral solution is equivalent to a mixed compound oral solution of taurine (20mg/10ml) and vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, niacinamide, and vitamin D. It can be used for the auxiliary treatment of malnutrition, anorexia, beriberi, and pellagra caused by vitamin B deficiency; for nutritional supplementation during the growth and development period; for nutritional supplementation after recovery from illness, before and after childbirth, and during lactation, and as an auxiliary treatment for febrile wasting diseases.

The "×× Taurine Effervescent Tablets" sold by the boy should be effervescent tablets containing taurine and other ingredients. These effervescent tablets have not been approved as drugs by drug regulatory authorities, but are health products (special foods) that can be relatively loosely managed and can be purchased online at will.

If you take taurine effervescent tablets

What effects does it have on the body?

The "×× Taurine Effervescent Tablets" usually sold online are 4g per tablet, with varying taurine content, mostly between 100mg~200mg per tablet. This dose is far less than the maximum daily dose of 4.8g for adults to "relieve fever in the early stages of a cold."

In this incident, the boy threw in "half a tablet" of effervescent tablet, which, calculated at 100 mg, is less than 2% of the daily dose of medicinal taurine. Therefore, this dose of taurine will not have any effect on the human body, but this behavior brings great stimulation to our spirit.

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What special reaction does taurine have when it meets coffee?

Someone may ask: Is it possible that taurine itself is safe, but when taurine meets coffee (the girl’s coffee cup may contain coffee), it will become poison or sex drug?

At present, taurine and coffee will not undergo chemical changes when they meet to form poison, nor will they become sex drugs.

This incident once again reminds everyone, especially young girls, to be aware of the possible "poisoning risks" in public places and to pay attention to self-protection.

We also remind everyone not to be deceived/misled by the overwhelming number of childish "prank" videos on the Internet: Although taurine (whether made into tablets, granules, capsules or effervescent tablets) is safe, secretly "putting foreign objects" into other people's cups, regardless of whether the "foreign objects" are toxic or not, is an act of a bad nature that may violate the law and cause serious consequences.

What should you do if you accidentally drink foreign medicine?

Many "warning messages" on the Internet tell us, especially young girls who are alone, not to drink drinks after they are out of sight. For example, in a bar, if you go to the bathroom in the middle of a meal, you should not continue to drink the drinks after you come back.

If you accidentally drink a drink with a strange/changed taste, or if you suspect poisoning, you should immediately seek safety protection, such as quickly informing the store clerk, calling your relatives, or calling the police. It is also best to ask the store clerk to save the remaining drink for evidence.

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