High-Caffeine Prime Energy Drinks Pose Serious Health Risk for Young People, Class Action Says

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges the health-conscious, youth-focused marketing of Prime Energy drinks belies the fact that the products are nowhere near as healthy or hydrating as advertised. 

Have you bought Prime Energy drinks? Let us know here.

The 42-page complaint alleges YouTube star Logan Paul and former boxing rival Olajide Olayinka Williams Olatunji’s marketing of Prime Energy drinks to their legions of “Gen Z” and “Gen Alpha” followers online is false and deceptive given that a product containing 200mg of caffeine—even if it contains zero sugar, is vegan and is loaded with electrolytes—poses a serious health risk for young people. 

As the lawsuit tells it, the marketing strategy of Paul, Olatunji (who goes by KSI), Prime Hydration LLC and Congo Brands LLC aims to increase sales and profits by targeting the “positive health-conscious benefits of Prime Energy,” leading unsuspecting consumers to believe the product is a “healthy hydration drink.”

“All of PRIME Energy’s uniform marketing is designed to convince reasonable consumers that the Product is a healthy hydration drink containing various minerals and supplements and, accordingly, the youth to whom PRIME Energy’s marketing is targeted reasonably and fairly believe that the Product does not contain ingredients known to be harmful to the human body.”

The case, citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics, emphasizes that caffeine and other stimulant substances, such as those commonly found in energy drinks, “have no place in the diet of children and adolescents.” The filing notes that the 200 mg of caffeine in Prime Energy drinks is “nearly double” the amount found in Monster and Red Bull. 

The dangers high amounts of caffeine pose to young people include dehydration, heart issues, anxiety and insomnia, the lawsuit relays, citing the CDC. 

“The caffeine in one bottle of Prime Energy is equivalent to nearly six cans of Coca Cola,” the suit states. 

The filing says that the marketing of Prime Energy “caters to youth” via bright colors, a “hyped” range of flavors, sports arena advertising and the use of “internet celebrities” to tout the product. The drink, which Senator Chuck Schumer called on the FDA to investigate over the summer, has developed a “cult-like following,” thanks in part to the nearly 100 million followers Paul and Olatunji boast on YouTube and social media, the case relays. 

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According to the lawsuit, the defendants, in marketing Prime Energy drinks to young people, have “[taken] full advantage of the lack of oversight where energy drink companies do not have to have FDA approval.” As a result, the case charges, the parties have marketed a drink containing 200 mg of caffeine “directly to minors who exhibited, and continue to exhibit, enhanced and exacerbated complications” upon consuming Prime Energy drinks. 

“Manufacturers of energy drinks, including Prime Energy, have placed their desire for profits before consumer safety by failing to warn consumers about health risks that could lead to severe injury or death,” the lawsuit alleges. 

Compounding matters is the fact that the defendants, in a disclosure “buried deep” on the Prime Energy website, have suggested that the drinks are not recommended for children under the age of 18, the complaint shares. Overall, the way Prime Energy touts caffeine on product labeling “makes it look healthy, attractive, and appropriate for young consumers rather than a health and heart hazard,” the case summarizes. 

According to the lawsuit, consumers, especially young people, lack the expertise needed to ascertain the risks associated with high caffeine levels. The advertising and marketing of Prime Energy drinks, without necessary context or comparison, pose that 200 mg of caffeine is “just a number that conveyed and conveys no meaning, no message, and certainly no warning” to those who do not know what relative amounts of the stimulant are considered safe or healthy, or high or low, the suit says. 

Consumers would not have bought Prime Energy drinks, either for themselves or their children, had they been properly made aware of the risks of the product’s caffeine content, the complaint argues. 

The plaintiff, a pseudonymous California resident who bought Prime Energy drinks on behalf of her 10-year-old child, said she was “induced” into buying the product based in part on the content of the defendants’ social media campaigns. The plaintiff claims to have continued to buy Prime Energy drinks for her child until she began to research the product upon the child’s “sudden mood swings and sleep issues.” 

The lawsuit looks to cover all persons in the United States who bought a Prime Energy drink for personal or household consumption and not for resale. 

Have you bought Prime Energy drinks? Let us know here.