ALBAWABA - A drink, which has gained popularity with children in the United States since its launch with the contribution of some famous YouTubers, is now causing concern among experts due to it containing extremely high levels of caffeine.
The famous, if not somewhat controversial, American YouTube star Logan Paul, and British Youtuber KSI, launched their drink brand “Prime” in 2022. Paul had previously stated in an interview that Prime sold $250 million worth of products, during its first year of being on the market.
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The first drink under the brand's name “Prime Hydration”, did not contain caffeine. However, that doesn't seem to be the case for the brand's second drink, "Prime Energy".
One can of this drink contains 200 milligrams of caffeine, which is significantly higher than a Coca-Cola bottle, which contains 30 milligrams of caffeine, the 80 milligrams in a Red Bull bottle.
At the time of the launch, a video clip showed the two YouTubers playing video games or ping-pong, first slowly and without much excitement, and then with frantic intensity when both started drinking "Prime Energy".
Even with the warnings of medical experts about how harmful it would be for children to consume a drink with that much caffeine, TikTok continues to be flooded with videos of children proudly holding the famous bottles to music with the words "We got Prime, boys".
The problems this drink could cause
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Adults are allowed to consume a maximum of 400 milligrams of caffeine per day, but that doesn't hold true for kids. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry says that: "children under 12 years old should never consume caffeine. For those between the ages of 12 and 18, the recommended maximum is 100 mg per day", which would be half a bottle of "Prime Energy" drink.
While consuming too much caffeine can affect people differently, parents should still be careful of their children's caffeine consumption, as too much caffeine could lead to serious side effects, such as vomiting, insomnia, anxiety, headaches, high blood pressure, and heart rhythm problems.
Community Response to "Prime Energy"
"This product has one true target market: children under the age of 18, and that is why I am sounding the alarm," the Democratic Senator, Chuck Schumer, said last week.
Chuck Schumer also said that the caffeine levels in this drink are "too much for a child's body", "It has spread because it has become a status symbol influenced by social networks, which children try to emulate at any cost," he noted in a statement of his.
Schumer stated that he wrote to the head of the US Medicines Agency, which is responsible for food health standards, requesting an investigation into existing caffeine levels and the approved marketing strategy.
Logan Paul responded to the controversy in a video he posted to social media on Thursday, saying: "Actually it doesn't surprise me that we're being targeted by massive corporate conglomerates and the United States government," and then continued to say: "We've effectively created a beverage so disruptive that it is eating the market shares of the biggest companies on the planet!".
While the production of the drink itself might not have broken any laws, people still wonder if "Prime Energy" is going to end up causing more harm than good.
