Prime Hydration Energy Drink Lawsuits Allege PFAS, Excessive Caffeine

YouTubers Logan Paul and KSI founded Prime Hydration in 2022, and while their products have become increasingly popular and profitable, the company continues to face class action lawsuits over the ingredients in their energy and sports drinks.

Prime Hyrdation LLC was sued April 8 in the Southern District of New York for “misleading and deceptive practices” over the company’s 12-ounce energy drinks containing between 215-225 milligrams of caffeine, as opposed to the advertised 200 milligrams, according to the class action suit.

Lara Vera, a resident of Poughkeepsie, New York, filed the lawsuit in federal court on behalf of herself and others who purchased Prime products in the U.S., the complaint said. Vera bought the Prime Blue Raspberry products several times in August 2022 for about $3 to $4 each, but would never have bought the drinks if she had known the actual caffeine content, according to the suit.

Vera’s lawsuit seeks $5 million from the company owned by Paul and KC, whose real name is Olajide Olayinka Williams “JJ” Olatunji, court records show.

Court records do not say whether Prime Hydration has hired legal counsel in Vera’s case.

How much caffeine is in Prime energy drinks?

Prime’s advertised 200 milligrams of caffeine is equivalent to “half a dozen cans of Coke or almost two (12-ounce) Red Bulls,” Vera’s class-action lawsuit says.

A 12-ounce can of Red Bull energy drink contains 114 milligrams of caffeine, and a cup of coffee contains about 100 milligrams of caffeine, according to the suit.

The lawsuit goes on to say that “there is no proven safe dose of caffeine for children.” Side effects from children consuming caffeine can include fast or irregular heartbeats, headaches, seizures, tremors, upset stomachs and adverse emotional effects on mental health, according to the complaint.

Sen. Charles Schumer, DNY, called on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate Prime energy drinks in 2023 for dangerously high levels of caffeine. Schumer claimed in a letter to the FDA that vague marketing aimed at young people influenced parents to buy a “cauldron of caffeine” for their children.

Schumer’s call for action to the FDA is referenced in Vera’s suit.

USA TODAY reached out to Prime Hydration’s attorneys Tuesday afternoon but did not immediately receive a response.

What are the lawsuits for Prime Hydration?

Vera’s legal battle has begun, but Prime is still dealing with another class action lawsuit from 2023 that claims the company’s sports drink flavor contains PFAS, or “perpetual chemicals.”

Independent third-party testing found the presence of PFAS chemicals in Prime Hydration grape flavor, according to a class-action lawsuit filed Aug. 2, 2023, in the Northern District of California by the Milberg Law Firm on behalf of Elizabeth Castillo and others similarly affected.

“Lead plaintiff Elizabeth Castillo, a California resident, has purchased Prime Hydration repeatedly but says she would not have purchased it at all if the product had been accurately marketed and labeled as containing PFAS,” the Milberg law firm said in an August 2023 news release. news. “These chemicals were not reasonably detectable to users like her.”

Castillo’s lawsuit seeks a $5 million judgment, court records show.

As of April 18, the judge in the case heard Prime’s argument to dismiss the lawsuit because Castillo did not allege “cognizable injury” and she did not allege “facts showing a specific (and) imminent threat of future harm,” according to a motion by a beverage company .

Paul addressed Castillo’s claims Wednesday in a 3-minute TikTok video.

“First, anyone can sue anyone at any time, which doesn’t make the case true,” Paul said in the TikTok video. “And in this case, it’s not… one guy did a random study and didn’t provide any evidence to support any of his claims.”

What are Eternal Chemicals?

PFASs are called forever chemicals because they “bioaccumulate, or build up in the body over time,” according to the Milberg’s Law press release.

“These man-made chemicals have been well studied and found to have adverse effects on the human body and the environment,” the New York-based law firm said.

Many PFASs are found in the blood of humans and animals and can be found at low levels in various foods and in the environment, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said. Forever’s chemicals can be found in water, air, fish and soil in places across the country and around the world, according to the EPA.

“There are thousands of PFAS chemicals, and they are found in many different consumer, commercial and industrial products,” the EPA said. “This makes it challenging to study and assess potential risks to human health and the environment.”

Who Made Prime Energy Drinks?

Before founding Prime Hydration LLC, Logan Paul, 29, and KSI, 30, were YouTubers who turned their millions of subscribers into supporters of their boxing, wrestling, music, social media content and other endeavors.

Entering the beverage business proved profitable for both YouTubers, as “Prime Hydration generated more than $250 million in retail sales in its first year, including $45 million in one month,” according to law firm Milberg.

Paul and KSI continue to keep Prime products in the spotlight, whether it’s paying for an ad during Super Bowl 57, having live streamer IShowSpeed dress up in a bottle of Prime sports drink during Wrestlemania 40 or signing athletes including Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Judge, Israel Adesanya, Tyreek Hill, Kyle Larson, Alisha Lehmann and others to sponsorship deals.

Prime Hydration Energy Drink Lawsuits Allege PFAS, Excessive Caffeine

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