The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation conducted a July 31, 2013, hearing to consider issues relating to the purported marketing of energy drinks to children and the alleged adverse health effects attributed to the use of products with elevated levels of caffeine and other stimulants. Among those testifying were Red Bull North America, Inc. Vice President and General Manager Amy Taylor, Monster Beverage Corp. Chair and CEO Rodney Sacks and Yale University Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity Senior Research Scientist Jennifer Harris. Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) challenged the companies’ marketing practices and referred to data showing a surge in emergency room visits from consumption of the products. The executives defended their products, saying they had been proven safe and were targeted to the 18- to 34-year-old market. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) thanked the chair for calling the hearing,…
Tag Archives caffeine
A woman who claims that her 19-year-old son died as a result of consuming at least two 16-oz. cans of Monster Energy® drinks every day for three years has filed a survival and wrongful death action against the company. Morris v. Monster Beverage Corp., RG1368528 (Cal. Super. Ct., Alameda Cty., filed June 25, 2013). According to the complaint, the young man went into cardiac arrest on July 1, 2013, “[w]hile engaged in sexual activity with his girlfriend,” and efforts to revive him were unsuccessful. The autopsy report allegedly attributed his death to “cardiac arrhythmia due to cardiomyopathy.” The plaintiff focuses on the beverage’s caffeine and other ingredients that have purportedly been shown to produce adverse health effects, “including cardiac arrest.” The plaintiff alleges strict liability—design defect, failure to warn—negligent design, manufacture, sale, and failure to warn; concealment, suppression or omission of material facts; breach of implied warranties; punitive damages; and…
The companies that make 5-Hour Energy have reportedly expanded a quest to keep their recipe from disclosure by seeking the application of a Tennessee law protecting trade secrets to requests made by the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance and state attorney general for all of the product’s ingredients and their amounts. Information about the suit that Living Essentials and Innovation Ventures filed in Oregon seeking the same relief appears in Issue 488 of this Update. Thirty-three states have launched an investigation into 5-Hour Energy, which purportedly contains more caffeine and other stimulant ingredients than other similar products. See The Tennessean, June 24, 2013.
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera has filed a consumer-fraud lawsuit on behalf of the people of the state of California against Monster Beverage just one week after the company sued Herrera to halt his investigation into company advertising practices and demands. People v. Monster Beverage Corp., No. CGC-13-531161 (Cal. Super. Ct., San Francisco Cty., filed May 6, 2013). According to Herrera’s press release, Monster Beverage’s preemptive suit constituted “‘forum shopping’ and a bid to win the race to the courthouse.” Details about Monster Energy’s lawsuit appear in Issue 482 of this Update. The new lawsuit alleges that the company “aggressively markets” its energy drink products to children and teenagers, fails to adequately warn consumers about the purported risks of consuming such products, and illegally sold its beverages until earlier this year as a dietary supplement. According to the complaint, product labels claim that three 16-ounce cans can be safely…
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine Michael Taylor said this week that the agency “is taking a fresh look at the potential impact that the totality of new and easy sources of caffeine may have on the health of children and adolescents, and if necessary, will take appropriate action.” According to Taylor, “[t]he only time that FDA explicitly approved the added use of caffeine in a food was for cola and that was in the 1950s.” He acknowledged that in today’s environment children and adolescents can be exposed to the substance “beyond anything FDA envisioned when it made the determination regarding caffeine in cola.” In 2010, FDA warned companies producing alcoholic malt beverages that the added caffeine was an unsafe additive and that seizure of their products was possible under federal law. The companies ceased producing the caffeinated products. Additional information about the 2010…
U.S. Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) have issued a joint report presenting the results of their investigation into the energy drink industry. Titled “What’s all the Buzz About?,” the report is based on survey responses from 14 energy drink companies asked to outline their current marketing, labeling and manufacturing practices. According to the lawmakers, the responses highlight various inconsistencies in how these companies market and label their products under current regulations, “leading to consumer confusion and a lack of transparency.” In particular, the report alleges that (i) “four out of the 14 companies surveyed classify and market one or more of its products as dietary supplements, as opposed to conventional beverages”; (ii) “concentrations of caffeine are not uniformly represented on the label of the brands evaluated,” with some concentrations exceeding safety levels set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for soda;…
Las Vegas, Nevada-based Rockstar, Inc. recently released a “scientific white paper” prepared for the energy drink maker by Intertek Cantox. Signed by University of Kansas Medical Center Department of Pharmacology Professor John Doull, a member of an “Expert Panel convened to evaluate the conditions of use of caffeine in Rockstar products,” the paper reviews scientific literature on the purported health effects of caffeine in adults and youths, and concludes that the estimated daily dietary intakes of the caffeine in Rockstar energy drinks is safe and generally recognized as safe (GRAS) “based on scientific procedures.” The paper also reviews literature on other ingredients, including guarana extract, taurine, milk thistle extract, and ginseng extract, and reports that “the Expert Panel unanimously concluded” that these ingredients are also safe and GRAS. Among other matters, the paper further notes that (i) there is no apparent basis for the claim that the American Academy of Pediatrics…
The Council for Responsible Nutrition has issued recommended guidelines for dietary supplement products containing caffeine, including energy drink products marketed as supplements. According to the council, the guidelines expand “its self-regulatory initiatives that encourage best practices within the supplement industry and promote safe use of dietary supplements by consumers.” Council President and CEO Steve Mister said, “This is one example of how responsible companies in our industry are taking proactive steps to educate consumers so they can make informed decisions about caffeine-containing supplements, and we trust consumers will be mindful of the amounts of caffeine they are getting from all sources.” The guidelines recommend (i) the disclosure of total caffeine content for products with added caffeine in amounts more than 25 mg per serving, “declared in milligrams per serving either in the Supplement Facts Box or in a separate statement elsewhere on the label”; (ii) advisories for conditions of use,…
A group of physicians, researchers and public health experts has urged Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg to consider the purported adverse health effects, particularly for children and adolescents, posed by energy drinks containing high levels of caffeine, apply existing generally recognized as safe standards to such beverages and require manufacturers to provide caffeine content on product labels. In their March 19, 2013, letter, the signatories cite their own and others’ research to claim that an increase in the consumption of products with added caffeine has been associated with fatalities and injuries, increased emergency room visits, cardiovascular complications, seizures, childhood obesity, and risky behaviors when combined with alcohol. They contend that while caffeine’s effects on adults are known, safe levels for teenagers have not been sufficiently shown. In a related development, several energy drink companies, including Monster Beverage, have reportedly changed their product labels to declare the caffeine…
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF’s) Healthy Eating Research (HER) panel has released a set of age-based “Recommendations for Healthier Beverages” that urge government buildings, workplaces and other public venues to increase the availability of water and unflavored milk as replacements for high-calorie beverages. Billed as “an advisory panel of prominent researchers, nutritionists and policy experts,” HER evidently arrived at its findings after reviewing “current beverage standards, recommendations, and guidelines from scientific bodies, national organizations, public health organizations, and the beverage industry.” HER has generally recommended that “water should be available and promoted in all settings where beverages are offered” and endorsed unflavored, low-fat and nonfat milk in age-appropriate portions as a way for children to get adequate amounts of calcium, vitamin D, potassium, and other nutrients. The panel would also permit the consumption of small amounts of 100 percent fruit juice—ranging from 0 to-4-ounce portions for preschool children and 0-to-8-ounce…
