In recent years, Anheuser-Busch InBev has been padding its portfolio by purchasing craft brewer after craft brewer, but the beverage giant’s latest merger is a bit different — it doesn’t include alcohol. [More]
energy drinks
5-Hour Energy Ordered To Pay $4.3 Million For Deceptive Ads
Four months after a Washington state court ruled that the maker of the popular 5-Hour Energy drink had misled consumers into believing that its product was superior to caffeine, the judge has ordered the company to pay a total of $4.3 million. [More]
McDonald’s Testing Sales Of Monster Energy Drinks In Five States
Need a little pick-me-up after a greasy burger and fry value meal? McDonald’s thinks it has the answer: sell energy drinks. [More]
Regulators Halt Alleged Energy Drink Pyramid Scheme That Targeted College Students, Other Young Adults
Federal regulators continued their crackdown on supposedly deceptive dietary supplement companies this week by temporarily shutting down an Arizona-based company that allegedly ran a pyramid scheme promising college students they would rake in the big bucks by selling energy drinks. [More]
Flood Of Red Bull Drinkers Seems To Have Overwhelmed Settlement Claim Site
When the Internet read yesterday that anyone who bought a Red Bull in the last 12 years was eligible for a refund or complimentary beverage as part of a false advertising lawsuit settlement, apparently too many people were thirsty. The original URL given to file a claim and read more information about the settlement no longer works. [More]
Red Bull Will Pay $13 Million To Settle False Advertising Lawsuit
Because you can’t believe every cartoon that says drinking a can of energy drink will cause you to suddenly sprout wings and float into the sky, Red Bull has agreed to pay more than $13 million to settle a lawsuit that was seeking class-action status to settle claims of false advertising. [More]
Two States Sue Makers Of 5-Hour Energy With Claims Of Deceptive Advertising
Both Oregon and Washington State filed lawsuits against the makers of 5-Hour Energy, alleging that the company has engaged in deceptive advertising tied to the ingredients in its drink. Other states are expected to follow suit, pun intended and totally appropriate in this case. [More]
Sunny Delight Now Has An Energy Drink For Teens
If you’re like most Americans, you spent many of your formative years drinking sugary vitamin-laced beverages: a childhood littered with Capri Sun packets and Sunny D bottles. If you’d like to revisit that time, Sunny Delight is now available as a caffeine-free canned energy drink. No, really. [More]
Forget Energy Drinks — New Study Says Kids Are Downing More Coffee Than Before
While the media and health officials have been keeping a beady eye fixed on energy drink consumption in young people, it seems a dark horse is riding toward the front of the caffeinated pack: that old stand-by, coffee. A new study says teens get a lot more caffeine from coffee drinks than they had in the past. [More]
Energy Drink Drinkers Concerned About Safety, Drink Them Anyway
You know when something’s probably bad for you, but you do it anyway? Energy shot and drink consumers certainly fall into that category now, according to one new bit of research, anyway. [More]
Study: Energy Drinks May Force Your Heart To Contract Faster
Most of the headlines we come across and pass along to you fine folk that involve energy drinks are usually not of the good kind. And here comes another media blast warning us that energy drinks are perhaps not something you want to ingest: A new study from a team of cardiac radiologists says when you guzzle an energy drink, it prompts your heart to contract a lot faster than it was before you tipped your head back. [More]
Family Sues Red Bull For $85 Million, Blaming Man’s Death On The Energy Drink
In what could be the first wrongful death lawsuit against the company, a man’s family is suing Red Bull, claiming the caffeinated beverage is to blame for his death in 2011. He died during a basketball game after drinking a Red Bull, and for that his family is seeking $85 million in the lawsuit filed today in New York City. [More]
Study: All Those Special Ingredients In Energy Drinks Don’t Do A Darn Tootin’ Thing
You’re sleepy, you’re drooping, you need something to perk you up and make you pay attention. Oh look, there’s an energy drink touting a long list of “special” ingredients — that must be the magic answer? Well, not really, says one study: Even though energy drink makers might brag about awakeamine, dontfallasleepaurite or other “special” proprietary concoctions designed to keep you peppy, energy drinks don’t work any better than ordinary caffeine at helping people pay attention. [More]
Lawmakers Call Out Energy Drink Makers For Inconsistent Labeling, Shady Marketing Practices
Despite repeated reassurances to the public that their energy drinks are safe and not marketed to kids, a group of lawmakers is calling the manufacturers of those drinks out for a variety of concerns listed in a new report. From labeling practices to potentially unsafe amounts of caffeine, the report details widespread labeling inconsistencies, questionable marketing practices and how much caffeine is in those beverages. [More]
Monster Energy Drinks Will Now Be Sold As Beverages Instead Of Dietary Supplements
In response to all the controversy surrounding the potential negative health effects of all kinds of energy drinks, Monster Energy Corp. is retooling its marketing: Instead of hawking them as dietary supplements, claims which have been questioned by federal regulators, the drinks will now be sold as beverages. [More]
Monster Says There’s No Proof Caffeine Killed Teen Girl
Last year, a woman in Maryland sued Monster Beverage, alleging that the energy drink caused her 14-year-old daughter to die of caffeine toxicity. However, the Monster folks claim this allegation can’t be proven because the medical examiner did not test the teen’s blood. [More]
Study: 20,000 Trips To The Emergency Room In 2011 Linked To Consumption Of Energy Drinks
Following on the heels of reports linking ill health effects to energy drinks like Monster and 5-Hour Energy, a new government study says those beverages are “a rising public health problem,” and have been linked to 20,000 visits to emergency rooms around the country. [More]
More Experts Call BS On Supposed Benefits Of Energy Drinks
The highly caffeinated “energy drink” market has been surging in recent years, as the makers of these beverages make claims that their products aren’t just substitutes for coffee or tea. But a growing number of researchers are saying that energy drinks are nothing special. [More]