By Khetam Malkawi

AMMAN - The Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) on Thursday ordered Red Bull’s agent to suspend the import of Red Bull Cola and withdraw all Red Bull products from the market, an administration official said.

JFDA Director Mohammad Rawashdeh said the decision was made following reports in Germany claiming the energy drink contains a trace amount of cocaine.

“Whenever we receive reports from any country regarding the withdrawal of a product from the market and we have it in Jordan, we do the same until we conduct the required tests,” Rawashdeh told The Jordan Times on Thursday.

In its letter to the agent, the JFDA said that the product, manufactured in Australia, entered into the Kingdom in October 2008 among other products.

The administration also sent a circular to the border stations and Aqaba Port authorities requesting them not to allow the entry of any shipment of the product into the Kingdom.

Last week, six German states notified retailers to stop selling Red Bull Cola energy drinks after a test found a trace amount of cocaine, the Associated Press reported.

“The ban started last Friday after a sample test conducted by authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia state found 0.4 microgrammes per litre in the drink,” the report added.

The Red Bull manufacturer was quoted by AP as saying its cola is "harmless and marketable in both the US and Europe".

It stated that similar coca leaf extracts are used worldwide as flavouring, and a test the company commissioned itself found no cocaine traces.

However, Director of the National Centre for Rehabilitation of Addicts Jamal Anani told The Jordan Times that any quantity of cocaine results in misuse or addiction.

“Drinking the energy drink with cocaine is very dangerous if it is taken with alcohol or narcotics,” said the Jordanian Toxicologists Association President Samir Qammaz. Such a mixture, he said, leads to addiction.

The company’s agent in Jordan was not available for comment despite several attempts to reach him for a comment.