More and more people have become worried about the impact that energy drinks could have on the safety of teenagers, whose growing bodies are largely thought not to be able to handle heightened levels of caffeine the way that an adult could. But energy drink makers are fighting these accusations at every turn, and a new story highlights the ongoing battle.
The story was prompted by Monster Energy’s decision to switch from marketing products as dietary supplements to marketing them as beverages. This will have a significant regulatory impact. If a report comes in to the company tying a fatality to the product, Monster isn’t required to report it (although they have said they will), and caffeine content will now be included on the label.
This move comes as Monster attempts to ward off accusations that their product led to the death of a Maryland teenager whose family then filed a lawsuit. And they’ve even threatened a lawsuit of their own against the author of an elementary school newsletter called Build Healthy Kids. They said that if the author didn’t recant a statement saying that energy drinks had led to child fatalities, they would sue her. Not taking the matter lying down, the author got in touch with Connecticut lawmakers, who then reached out to Monster asking them to reconsider their proposed action and issue an apology.
Time will tell how this all shakes out.