SILVER SPRING, MD – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reportedly reviewing concerns surrounding the caffeine content within the energy drink Prime, a brand brought forth in early 2022 where social media influencers Logan Paul and KSI serve as the proverbial faces of the brand.
The controversy stirred up regarding this energy drink brand came compliments of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer earlier in July, who asserts this particular energy drink could be unsafe for young consumers.
Back in January of 2022, the beverage brand dubbed Prime Hydration was unveiled to the world, with an assortment of drink-related offerings ranging from sports drinks, drink mixes, and energy drinks. And when the products were released, the hype was certainly something – an outcome that can be reasonably attributed to the marketing of Prime being handled by popular YouTubers Logan Paul and KSI.
But the two YouTubers involvement in the brand in question seems to be the source of the company’s troubles, at least in terms of the raucous being conjured up by Democrats in Washington.
When it comes to the Prime sports drinks and drink mixes, the aforesaid two lines of items aren’t remotely contentious, insofar that the two iterations of Prime serve up an analogous offering in the realms of low calorie sports drinks and drink mixes amidst the current market.
Yet, Prime energy has become the target of some rather hyperbolic online criticism, such as journalists who make bizarre connections to YouTube influencer endorsed energy drinks being a gateway for youths to become seduced by misogyny.
But the screeds of activist journalists and primary school bans seething with signals of virtue are ostensibly the least of Prime’s worries, as the criticism of the line of drinks has managed to make its way up to the United States Senate.
On July 9th, Sen. Schumer urged the FDA to begin investigating Prime in light of the high caffeine content per can, measuring in at 200mg, emphasizing the caffeine quantity in the beverage is of concern due to the perception that the brand’s marketing strategy is targeting young children.
“Buyer and parents beware, because it’s a serious health concern for the kids it so feverishly targets,” Sen. Schumer stated in regard to Prime energy, adding, “This is an eye-popping level of caffeine for a young kid’s body.”
The Democratic senator also asserted that Prime energy and Prime hydration are nearly indistinguishable from one another, stating, “Because the product is billed as a hydration and sports drink in its other, near identical form, kids are likely to ingest cans of this stuff with the parents being unaware.”
The claims made by Sen. Schumer seem ill-informed at best, or willfully misleading at worst with respect to the claim that Prime hydration and Prime energy are “near identical” in appearance to the point they’d hoodwink oblivious parents.
As it relates to the appearances of Prime’s offerings, the sports drinks come packaged in a stylized plastic bottle, the drink mixes in tubular pouches, and the energy drinks are outfitted in an aluminum can similar to the myriad of other energy drinks on the market. Thus, even without the packaging labels differentiating the sports and energy drinks, the average consumer would likely be able to easily delineate between the two offerings by a mere glance.
In response to the recent controversy, Prime has come to the defense of their energy drink offerings, noting in a statement sent to Reuters earlier in July that their energy drinks comply with current FDA guidelines and the product packaging explicitly labels the energy drinks as not being recommended for children under the age of 18, women who are pregnant or nursing, or individuals who are sensitive to caffeine.
Nonetheless, the ostensibly bad faith ‘just think of the children’ campaign launched by Sen. Schumer seems to be working to a degree, as the FDA responded on July 13th that the agency will look into the concerns brought up by the Senate Majority Leader.
While the U.S. health regulator didn’t infer any particular forthcoming adverse action slated against the influencer-endorsed drink company, it seems as though the proponents of big government in Washington are looking to turn the FDA into the caffeine police.
Gregory Hoyt is a former contributor to outlets such as Law Enforcement Today and Red Voice Media, and current host of The Breakdown with Greg Hoyt. Based out of Sierra Vista, Arizona, Hoyt is a staunch and outspoken advocate of law enforcement and first responders, while also harboring the unique experience of having spent nearly 5 years in prison. Since then, he's used his unique perspective to offer support and commentary about the criminal justice system. When not working or combating bad ideas, Hoyt also leisurely studies economics, history, and law.