One of the top-selling sports drinks, Prime, founded by YouTubers Logan Paul and Olajide William Olatunji (aka KSI), is found in two new lawsuits claiming the drinks marketed to children contain high levels of caffeine and PFA chemicals that are linked to cancer.
In a viral TikTok, Dr. Zain Hasan (@doctarz) explains the recent lawsuits and the effects these harsh chemicals can have on children and teens. His video has reached over 1.1 million views and 40,000 likes by Monday.
To start his video, he says “I don’t know I missed this before,” but Prime is being “sued on two accounts, just this year.”
Why is Logan Paul’s Prime being sued?
Dr. Hasan explains that the first reason Prime is being sued is because in the popular energy drink contains “an excessive amount of caffeine in it.”
Prime Energy drinks are labeled on their website to contain 140 mg of caffeine. Health.com notes the drink actually contains “200 mg of caffeine per 12 ounces.”
He says, “the reason for the lawsuit is that this drink is marketed primarily to teens and young kids.”
“Having that much caffeine as a kid, especially a couple times a day, can be detrimental, especially to their growth,” Dr. Hasan adds. He explains that the high levels of caffeine can also “affect their heart.”
Dr. Hasan believes that being exposed to high levels of caffeine at such an early age can be “a risk factor.”
According to Columbia University Irving Medical Center, “There is no known safe amount of caffeine for anyone age 11 and younger.”
“Until a safe amount is determined, if it’s impossible to avoid, people age 12 to 17 should have less than 100 mg of caffeine per day,” they add.
Next, Dr. Hasan says the second lawsuit is “actually more interesting.”
Dr. Hasan says the Prime grape flavor was found to contain significant levels of PFA chemicals.
Millberg states that PFA chemicals “are known as “forever chemicals” because they bioaccumulate, or accrue in the body over time. These man-made chemicals are well-studied and have been found to have adverse effects on the human body and environment.”
A few of the risks are: “Reproductive harm, developmental delays in children, increased cancer risk, reduced immune system response, interference with the body’s hormones, higher cholesterol levels, and obesity risk,” Millberg states.
Dr. Hasan adds a screenshot into his video of the list of PFA chemicals found in the grape hydration drink. There were reportedly a total of 8 different PFA chemicals found.
“They are forever chemicals, they get inside your body, they stay in there forever,” he adds. “Your body cannot break them down, your liver can not break them down, your kidneys can’t flush them out.”
He says, “You know the power of marketing, so you know kids will be affected.”
Next he states that all of these claims are “alleged” and have “not been proven in court yet.” Although, he believes it is “very concerning because these energy drinks are hyped up on social media.”
Before ending his video, Dr. Hasan urges viewers to send his video to anyone you know who drinks Prime “as a warning, because all these alleged lawsuits are not coming out.”
@doctarz Massive Prime energy lawsuit alleges too much caffeine and a high number of forever chemicals! #primeenergy #loganpaul #pfas #doctor ♬ Epic News – DM Production
A viewer in the comment section addressed, “This is a prime example (no pun intended), of how you shouldn’t just trust something because it’s popular or an influencer/someone with a big platform is behind it.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Dr. Hasan and PRIME via email.
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Source: https://www.dailydot.com/news/prime-lawsuit-forever-chemicals/