Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Tag: caffeine

  • 5-Hour Energy Drink Makers Seek Trade Secret Protection in Tennessee

    The companies that make 5-Hour Energy have reportedly expanded a quest to keep their recipe from disclosure by seeking the application of a Tennessee law protecting trade secrets to requests made by the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance and state attorney general for all of the product’s ingredients and their amounts. Information about the…

  • San Francisco City Attorney Sues Monster Beverage

    San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera has filed a consumer-fraud lawsuit on behalf of the people of the state of California against Monster Beverage just one week after the company sued Herrera to halt his investigation into company advertising practices and demands. People v. Monster Beverage Corp., No. CGC-13-531161 (Cal. Super. Ct., San Francisco Cty.,…

  • FDA to Take “Fresh Look” at Added Caffeine in Foods and Beverages

    Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine Michael Taylor said this week that the agency “is taking a fresh look at the potential impact that the totality of new and easy sources of caffeine may have on the health of children and adolescents, and if necessary, will take appropriate action.”…

  • U.S. Lawmakers Issue Report on Energy Drinks

    U.S. Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) have issued a joint report presenting the results of their investigation into the energy drink industry. Titled “What’s all the Buzz About?,” the report is based on survey responses from 14 energy drink companies asked to outline their current marketing, labeling…

  • Energy Drink Maker Commissions Scientific White Paper on Ingredient Safety

    Las Vegas, Nevada-based Rockstar, Inc. recently released a “scientific white paper” prepared for the energy drink maker by Intertek Cantox. Signed by University of Kansas Medical Center Department of Pharmacology Professor John Doull, a member of an “Expert Panel convened to evaluate the conditions of use of caffeine in Rockstar products,” the paper reviews scientific literature…

  • Dietary Supplement Trade Association Issues Caffeine Guidelines

    The Council for Responsible Nutrition has issued recommended guidelines for dietary supplement products containing caffeine, including energy drink products marketed as supplements. According to the council, the guidelines expand “its self-regulatory initiatives that encourage best practices within the supplement industry and promote safe use of dietary supplements by consumers.” Council President and CEO Steve Mister…

  • Physicians, Researchers, Public Health Experts Seek FDA Action on Caffeine in Energy Drinks

    A group of physicians, researchers and public health experts has urged Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg to consider the purported adverse health effects, particularly for children and adolescents, posed by energy drinks containing high levels of caffeine, apply existing generally recognized as safe standards to such beverages and require manufacturers to provide…

  • RWJF Issues Recommendations for Healthier Beverages

    The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF’s) Healthy Eating Research (HER) panel has released a set of age-based “Recommendations for Healthier Beverages” that urge government buildings, workplaces and other public venues to increase the availability of water and unflavored milk as replacements for high-calorie beverages. Billed as “an advisory panel of prominent researchers, nutritionists and policy experts,”…