Your company may want to stop pushing the envelope of your product if it has a history for being a potential causation of five deaths from reports by the Food and Drug Administration.
Monster Beverage Corporation, the makers of the popular Monster Energy drink has been pitted against the combined forces of east and west: a New York state attorney general and San Francisco city attorney are investigating the company’s marketing towards children.
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman joined forces last month after a federal judge in California tossed out a lawsuit filed by Monster; the company wanted to stop Herrera’s ongoing investigation that first began in 2012.
Herrera filed a lawsuit against the company that claimed that Monster Energy drinks posed serious health issues as well as violating California state law by misbranding and marketing them towards children.
Roughly 3,000 miles away in New York, Scheniderman issued subpoenas to multiple energy-drink makers as well as Monster as part of his ongoing investigation.
“We are disappointed that Monster has remained defiant in marketing products to children,” Herrera said. “We hope this effort will cause the company to correct its irresponsible marketing practices.”
Monster Beverage Corporation didn’t have an immediate comment on the joint effort, spokesperson Tammy Taylor said.
Hold the tall large aluminum can of Monster and look closely and you’ll find a warning for all:
Not not that… this:
“Limit 3 cans per day. Not recommended for children, pregnant women, or people sensitive to caffeine.”
Yet despite the disclaimer, Herrera asserts that the company pushes its product on minors.
According kidshealth.org, at most, minors should ingest no more than 100 mg of caffeine per day.
In December 2011, 14 year old Anais Fournier died of cardiac arrest due to caffeine toxicity after consistently consuming two 710 ml cans (3 cups) of Monster Energy per day. The combined amount of Fournier’s daily caffeine intake was 475 mg (14 cans of Coca Cola). It should be noted that Fournier had a pre-existing heart condition known as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
Like a record, Monster has stated repeatedly that its drinks are safe, claiming ignorance of any deaths caused by its products.
“As a company, we vehemently deny that drinking two cans of Monster Energy by itself can cause a death from caffeine toxicity,” the company said to WRC-TV back in 2012.
What do you think? Kid friendly?
Update: Spokesperson Tamara Taylor of Sitrick And Company said in an email to WebProNews that:
“The sale and consumption of more than 10 billion Monster energy drinks worldwide over more than 11 years has shown that our products are safe. Contrary to allegations, they are not “highly caffeinated” and they are not marketed to children. In fact, a 16-ounce Monster Energy drink contains less than half the caffeine of a 16-oz (medium) size cup of Starbucks brewed coffee. Monster’s labels state: “Consume responsibly: Not recommended for children, people sensitive to caffeine, pregnant women or women who are nursing.”
Images via Hoax Slayer, World Truth, Forbes, American Live Wire
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