US Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer has asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate Prime’s energy drink products over their caffeine levels.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday (9 July), Schumer slammed Prime’s energy drink products for having “an eye-popping level of caffeine for a young kid’s body”.
“One of the summer’s hottest status symbols for kids is not an outfit, or a toy – it’s a beverage,” Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said, as reported by The Guardian. “But buyer and parents beware because it’s a serious health concern for the kids it so feverishly targets.”
Prime, which is owned and founded by YouTube and social media personalities Logan Paul and KSI, offers six different energy drinks, according to its US website. The canned drinks contain 200mg of caffeine per 335ml serving – equivalent to six cans of Coca-Cola or nearly two cans of Red Bull.
It also states on the company’s website and on the cans themselves that the product is not recommended for children under 18 years of age nor pregnant women.
Schumer said the brand has still marketed its products toward children.
“Because the product is billed as a sports drink in its other near-identical form, kids are likely to ingest cans of this stuff with the parents being unaware.”
The other form which Schumer referred to is the original product that Prime sold – a better-for-you naturally flavoured hydration drink, without caffeine.
According to The Guardian, Schumer wrote in a letter to the FDA: “A simple search on social media for Prime will generate an eye-popping amount of sponsored content, which is advertising. This content and the claims made should be investigated, along with the ingredients and the caffeine content in the Prime energy drink.”
Just Drinks has approached Prime and the FDA for comment on Schumer’s statement.
The energy drink brand has attracted some scrutiny in recent months. In May, Denmark’s food watchdog hit out at the illegal sales of the energy drink Prime in its market and banned five companies from marketing the product due to health concerns.
