As it emerged from the German media, it seems the Simply Cola “was ordered off the shelves of 6 German states (Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Thuringia and Rhineland-Palatinate being among those states).” The reason is that the aforementioned product failed the drug tests conducted by the authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia. As it turns out, the drink contains traces of cocaine, as revealed by the German reports.
Germany is not the first country to ban (partially or totally) the Red Bull Simply Cola, as it joins Northern European nations like Denmark and Norway, as well as South American country Uruguay in not commercializing the product.
Red Bull immediately issued a statement, saying that they conducted their own tests on the Simply Cola product and that no traces of cocaine were found. According to the Austrian company's promotion adds, the drink contains caffeine (from coffee beans) and natural flavors, in addition to water, sugar and carbon dioxide.
The connection to F1 racing is that Red Bull is currently advertising the Simply Cola product on the rear wing endplates of 4 Formula One cars: both 2009 challengers from Red Bull Racing (RB5) and Scuderia Toro Rosso (STR4).
It is yet to be determined if banning reports in Germany or any other European country will lead to FIA prohibiting the Austrian company from advertising the product in Formula One.
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