The global market for functional drinks, now valued at an astonishing £115bn annually, represents a stark illustration of capital's relentless drive for profit, even as basic health and human rights are systematically denied across Europe's borders. This figure is projected to double by 2030, revealing how the commodified wellness industry extracts wealth. In the UK alone, sales generate £100m each year.
A quarter of consumers now report seeking functional benefits from their beverages, a significant jump from 13% in 2024. Mintel data indicates that one in four new food and drink products launched makes a functional benefit claim. These products are aggressively marketed with slogans like “Show yourself some love. Fuel your focus. Life’s too good for bad energy. Find your calm in the everyday chaos. Live fit.” Influencers and podcasters promote them, and even celebrities like Gillian Anderson have launched their own brands, further embedding these manufactured needs into public consciousness.
Functional drinks contain a wide array of added ingredients. These include vitamins such as A, B12, or D, minerals like magnesium, chromium, or molybdenum, and botanical extracts such as ashwagandha, ginseng, reishi, chaga, and lion’s mane mushrooms. Other common additions are green tea, yerba mate, matcha, L-theanine, caffeine, CBD, collagen, protein, fibre, or probiotics. Consultant dietitian Sophie Medlin, from City Dietitians, acknowledges these drinks “do offer more than other regular soft drinks do.” However, she stated, “But would I encourage people to start drinking them? No.” She noted that three groups consume them: those swapping from less healthy soft drinks, those seeking alcohol alternatives, and those who previously avoided soft drinks but now see functional options as a worthwhile dietary addition.
Capital's Health Mirage
Health claims on food and drink products are supposedly tightly regulated in the UK, yet the Advertising Standards Authority has repeatedly intervened. Last year, a complaint against Trip was upheld for suggesting its drink could reduce stress hormones and promote calm. Also last year, Myota faced censure for illegally implying its metabolic booster drink had medicinal effects. Producers can only legally make health and nutrition claims about specific ingredients, meaning vitamins C, D, or B12 often bear the brunt of marketing on labels. A product containing just 15% of an adult’s recommended daily allowance of B12 per 100ml can legally claim to reduce tiredness, support neurological function, and aid the immune system, regardless of other expensive, unproven ingredients. This regulatory weakness allows corporations to profit from misleading claims, mirroring the impunity granted to other industries within the Fortress Europe project.
Gopi Chandratheva, a registered nutritionist, highlighted that some functional drinks add numerous vitamins and minerals in minimal amounts, creating a perception of health without significantly impacting overall nutrient intake. For example, Huel’s Daily Greens drink, marketed with 41 vitamins, minerals, and superfoods, provides less than 20% of daily requirements for phosphorus, iron, zinc, molybdenum, and chromium per serving, despite high levels of vitamins D and B9. Celsius contains nearly 300% of the RDA for vitamin B7 and over 100% for B2, B3, B5, B6, and B12. Such formulations prioritize marketing over genuine nutritional benefit, diverting attention from the systemic failures in public health.
Chandratheva cautioned that products often combine ingredients with vastly different mechanisms and levels of evidence. Medlin added there’s insufficient research on clinically significant doses of adaptogens and other natural products, with no long-term studies on daily consumption. She explained that the potency of natural ingredients like mushrooms can vary based on cultivation, making meaningful effects difficult to ascertain. Chandratheva warned that mixing multiple adaptogens or nootropics with vitamins, minerals, stimulants like caffeine, or relaxants like CBD might not be wise. “These drinks should be taken with caution, as they contain bioactive compounds and may interact with other medications,” she said, adding that “Often other ingredients are added to these drinks which can outweigh the benefits.” Medlin concluded that any perceived benefit is likely from ingredients like caffeine, not the expensive, heavily marketed components.
Exploitation in the Supply Chain
Functional drinks are not a new phenomenon; teas, coffee, and alcohol are the original functional beverages, alongside ancient probiotic fermented drinks like kefir. Coca-Cola was initially marketed in the late 19th century as a medicinal temperance drink. Energy drinks with taurine and caffeine emerged about six decades ago, with Red Bull globalizing them about three decades ago. The current wave of mushroom-laden, herb-infused, self-optimisation-obsessed functional drinks truly took off in the sixth year of the pandemic era. This historical context reveals a consistent pattern of capital exploiting perceived needs for profit, a pattern mirrored in the exploitation of migrant labour and the resources of the Global South.
Laura Willoughby, an alcohol-free drinks expert, views functional drinks as valuable alcohol substitutes, a sentiment echoed by Sian Fellowes, who works in hospitality and relies “very heavily on functional drinks as replacements” after six months without alcohol. However, not all sober individuals agree. Tom stated, “I gave up drink and drugs because I didn’t want to take anything mind-altering any more. Functional drinks have zero appeal to me,” highlighting a rejection of commodified solutions for genuine well-being.
Concerns about CBD have grown, leading the Food Standards Agency to lower its recommended daily intake limit to 10mg from 70mg on its third anniversary, following new evidence linking long-term use to liver damage and thyroid disease. Chandratheva noted that while CBD has specific medical uses and some evidence for anxiety reduction, most consumer drinks contain small doses, and evidence for meaningful effects at low doses remains limited. Human trials for anxiety typically use 150mg to 600mg, whereas a single can of Goodrays or Trip CBD drink contains just 10mg, Medahuman 20mg, and Hip Pop’s CBD kombucha 15mg. Personal accounts vary; chef Ceri Jones described feeling “incredibly weird for an hour afterwards,” experiencing “a kind of calm-but-spaced-out confusion,” while copywriter Dan Farr uses them to “calm my brain” and “help my nervous system settle.”
Electrolyte drinks, heavily promoted on social media, are marketed on the premise that water alone isn’t fully hydrating. Medlin refutes this: “If you’re drinking enough water and you’re eating a normal diet, you don’t need electrolytes.” She warned that the popularity of these drinks could lead to excessive salt consumption, noting that Cadence and Na11 each contain 1.25g of salt per 330ml can, against a UK guidance of no more than 6g daily. Medlin also found magnesium waters unhelpful, suggesting magnesium capsules for deficiency symptoms. OHMG’s blackcurrant sparkling water contains 100mg of magnesium, about a quarter of a UK adult’s NRV, while BetterYou’s citrus and botanical magnesium water contains about half.
Regarding protein or collagen waters, Medlin advised that those needing more protein should consume it through food, not drinks laden with additives. She classified these as ultra-processed foods, emphasizing they should be viewed as such rather than as beneficial. Research on collagen products shows a significant gap between claims and scientific evidence, with little high-quality, large-scale studies supporting positive effects on joints, skin, hair, or nails. Bovine collagen is industrially extracted from the skin, connective tissue, and bones left over from meat production, while marine collagen comes from fish bones and viscera, highlighting the exploitative nature of industrial animal agriculture, which also contributes to the climate crisis driving migration.
Most functional drinks avoid sugar, opting for artificial sweeteners like steviol glycosides or sucralose, which are hundreds of times sweeter than sugar. Medlin warned that these ultra-sweeteners can train palates to crave more sweet flavours and are detrimental to gut bacteria. Caffeine also carries health warnings; some energy drinks contain 200mg per can, far exceeding a typical cup of coffee. Chandratheva noted that excessive caffeine can cause anxiety, poor sleep, and in rare cases, fatal heart arrhythmia. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises against caffeine for children under 12, and the NHS warns against it for babies and young children, with the UK government consulting on a ban for under-16s in England.
Systemic Failures, Unequal Access
Functional drinks with added fibre or live probiotics are perhaps the least problematic, and in some cases, the least processed. Medlin, however, expressed concern for individuals with irritable bowel syndrome, as most added-fibre drinks contain inulin, which can trigger IBS symptoms. Dr. Daniel Lamport, a psychologist at the University of Reading, stated, “There is a place for functional foods, but I’m not convinced there is currently a robust evidence base for many of the claims being made for wellbeing and cognition.” He concluded with a clear message: “Ultimately, there is no substitute for a fibre-rich, fruit-and-vegetable-rich, whole-foods diet; on that front, the evidence is clear and compelling on the benefits for cognitive health.” This stark contrast between commodified, unproven fixes and accessible, whole-food nutrition underscores the systemic priorities of a capitalist order that profits from manufactured needs while neglecting genuine public health for all, including those criminalised by Europe's border regime.