If you're a parent, teacher, coach, or other adult who spends a lot of time with pre-teens or older kids, you’ve surely seen the brightly-colored, ubiquitous bottles of PRIME beverage in their hands, backpacks, sports bags, or elsewhere.
Like the Stanley cup fad, this one is hitting hard in the tween crowd.
Kids (and adults) have been drinking Gatorade, Powerade, and other types of energy and hydration beverages for decades—they’re widely seen on sports fields, college campuses, in schools, and various other places. However, a lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York in April 2024 claims that drinks made by Prime Hydration LLC contain excessive amounts of caffeine. Another lawsuit contends that the drinks have PFAS, which are considered harmful “forever chemicals.”
What’s the difference between energy drinks and hydration drinks?
The CDC defines “energy drinks” as beverages that contain large amounts of caffeine, added sugars, other additives, and stimulants like guarana, taurine and L-carnitine.
These stimulants are legal; people consume them for increased alertness, attention, and energy. They are also sometimes used for increasing blood pressure, heart rate and breathing.
A “hydration drink” contains carbohydrates, minerals, glucose and electrolytes and is intended to be consumed during or following exercise or exertion. These are also called sports drinks, and they sometimes also include vitamins and nutrients.
Generally, an electrolyte drink is intended to rehydrate the body, so it’s mostly water but includes some sugar with electrolytes.
How does caffeine make energy drinks dangerous?
Many (probably most) adults drink caffeine daily. Coffee, tea, soda… we all have our preferences but the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health says adults in the U.S. typically consume an average of 135 milligrams of caffeine per day. That is equal to about 1.5 cups of coffee, measuring a cup as eight ounces. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says up to 400 milligrams of caffeine a day is safe for a healthy adult. That amounts to about four cups of brewed coffee.
Caffeine is typically found in coffee, tea, and chocolate, and it can also be added to some foods and beverages.
However, caffeine affects kids differently than it does adults. Medical organizations have said that the safest amount of consumption is less than 100 milligrams of caffeine per day for a child or teen between the ages of 12 and 18. Further, Columbia University Irving Medical Center pediatrician David Buchholz, MD, says, “[t]here is no known safe amount of caffeine for anyone age 11 and younger.”
Why is caffeine dangerous for kids?
Caffeine can create long-term health consequences for children who have underlying conditions like high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease, or anxiety disorders.
However, even for children without underlying conditions, excessive caffeine can interfere with their skill acquisition and emotional and social health and cause other issues like diarrhea, dehydration, heart palpitations, increased heart rate, insomnia, jitters, nausea and restlessness. Because they are smaller than adults, it takes less caffeine to create more adverse effects on their bodies.
Prime energy drink caffeine lawsuit
The plaintiff in the Prime beverage lawsuit is Lara Vera of Poughkeepsie, New York. Vera claims that the company uses “misleading and deceptive practices” to sell its 12-ounce energy drinks.
The drinks contain 215-225 milligrams of caffeine, which is higher than the advertised 200 mg.
She claims she would not have purchased the drinks if she knew how much caffeine they actually contained, and the class action lawsuit seeks $5 million in damages.
The lawsuit contends that the amount of caffeine in a Prime beverage is equivalent to “half a dozen Coke cans or nearly two (12-ounce) Red Bulls.”
If this sounds familiar to you, you’re not imagining things. There’s currently a lawsuit against Panera for a 21-year-old student who died after drinking the restaurant chain’s Charged Lemonade. She had a heart condition and was very careful about her caffeine intake, but the “lemonade” was listed on the menu along with non-caffeinated and less caffeinated beverages and she was unaware that it contained nearly 400 mg of caffeine. And, in a second wrongful death lawsuit against Panera, a 46-year-old man suffered a fatal event after drinking Charged Lemonade.
Prime energy drinks and forever chemicals
Prime’s legal battles don’t end there.
A class action suit against the company was filed in 2023, alleging that the grape flavored Prime Hydration beverage contains PFAS, or per- and polyfluorinated substances. These are sometimes known as “forever chemicals.”
These chemicals are used to make coatings and products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease and water. They’re typically present in clothes, furniture, food packaging, adhesives, heat-resistant and non-stick cooking materials, and electrical wire insulation.
According to the CDC, we don’t know exactly what health effects come from very low levels of PFAS exposure. However, studies in animals have shown that the chemicals could affect reproduction, thyroid function, the immune system, and liver function.
The Prime lawsuit’s lead plaintiff said that she would not have purchased the product if she was aware of the presence of PFAS, and the chemicals are not detectable by a consumer. The chemicals’ presence was found by independent third-party lab testing.
PFAS can be detected at low levels in some food products. They can also be present in water, air, fish and soil. While most people in the U.S. have some level of PFAS in their blood, the harm is that they accumulate in the body over time.
Should I allow my child to drink Prime energy drinks?
Only you can make that decision.
As with any other trend, these are bound to fall out of favor with your child when the next “hot” drink comes on the market. However, although the lawsuits are not yet resolved, it’s true that Prime Energy contains 200 milligrams of caffeine in a 12-ounce can, which is arguably more than the amount recommended for children.
Like most parents, you probably pick your battles—your kid is exhausted and hot after a game, all of their friends have cold Prime drinks waiting for them, and your child wants one, too. Do you allow it?
It’s worth noting that none of these lawsuits so far are because someone actually became ill or injured because of a Prime beverage. They are because the purchasers felt misled into buying them because of what they believe is deceptive marketing.
If you believe that you’ve been similarly affected by Prime beverages, or if you’ve suffered another, related injury, you can contact a personal injury lawyer near you for guidance.
PFAS in the Workplace Could be Making People Sick
Is your workplace extra risky for exposure to PFAS, or forever chemicals? You might not expect some of the sneaky places where these are lurking.