A baby holds a PRIME hydration drink previous to a baseball recreation between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks, March 31, 2023, in Los Angeles. AP Picture/Mark J. Terrill, file
By JAKE OFFENHARTZ, Related Press
NEW YORK (AP) — PRIME, an influencer-backed power drink that has earned viral reputation amongst kids, is dealing with scrutiny from lawmakers and well being consultants over its probably harmful ranges of caffeine.
On Sunday, Sen. Charles Schumer referred to as on the Meals and Drug Administration to analyze PRIME, a beverage model based by the YouTube stars Logan Paul and KSI that has grow to be one thing of an obsession among the many influencers’ legions of younger followers.
“One of many summer season’s hottest standing symbols for teenagers is just not an outfit, or a toy—it’s a beverage,” stated Schumer, a Democrat from New York. “However purchaser and fogeys beware as a result of it’s a severe well being concern for the youngsters it so feverishly targets.”
Backed by two of YouTube’s finest identified stars, PRIME was a right away sensation when it launched final yr, prompting lengthy traces in grocery shops and experiences of college yard resale markets.
Promoting itself as zero sugar and vegan, the neon-colored cans are amongst a rising variety of power drinks with elevated ranges of caffeine; in PRIME’s case, 200 milligrams per 12 ounces, equal to about half a dozen Coke cans or almost two Crimson Bulls.
That top content material prompted bans from some faculties in the UK and Australia the place some pediatricians warned of potential well being impacts on younger kids resembling coronary heart issues, anxiousness, and digestive points.
Firm representatives, in the meantime, have defended the product as clearly labeled “not really useful for youngsters below 18.” They promote a separate sports activities drink, referred to as PRIME Hydration, which incorporates no caffeine in any respect. Representatives for PRIME didn’t instantly return a request for remark.
However in his letter to the FDA, Schumer claimed there was little noticeable distinction within the on-line advertising of the 2 drinks – main many mother and father to imagine they had been buying a juice for his or her youngsters, solely to wind up with a “cauldron of caffeine.”
“A easy search on social media for Prime will generate an eye-popping quantity of sponsored content material, which is promoting,” he wrote. “This content material and the claims made needs to be investigated, together with the substances and the caffeine content material within the Prime power drink.”
