A sobering experience

Does a drink really cure hangovers?

Staff at the European Commission could soon have the perfect excuse for a heavy night out.  

Two Italian centre-right MEPs are calling on the European Commission to investigate whether Rebootizer, a drink marketed by a UK company of the same infelicitous name, can really protect people from the morning after the night before.

The company markets the drink as an “anti-hangover shaker”, claiming derivation from an “old home remedy” that has been tested in a Swiss laboratory.

The drink has enjoyed popularity with the younger set since its launch last year, on the grounds that a little digestif after a night’s clubbing can ease the agonies of the next day.

Unconvinced, Carlo Fidanza and Licia Ronzulli, both MEPs for Italy’s People of Liberty party, have demanded of the Commission what it will do “to check scientifically the real effectiveness of the product in preventing the effects of hangovers?”.

In a written question dated 22 July, they say that the company has given young people “the dangerous illusion that it [Rebootizer] can serve to remedy or prevent the effects of alcohol abuse”.

They also want to know whether the Commission plans to enlist the help of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which is based in Parma, to assess Rebootizer’s powers.

The Commission is still preparing its response to the letter, but surely there would be no shortage of volunteers to assess whether Rebootizer alleviates the effects of a night-out in Brussels or Parma, especially if some public money could be found for the experiment.

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