One of the best-selling sports drinks, Prime Inc., founded by YouTubers Logan Paul and Olajide William Olatunji (also known as KSI), has discovered that the drinks marketed to children have high concentrations linked to cancer. Two new lawsuits allege that it contains caffeine and PFA chemicals. .
In a viral TikTok, Dr. Zain Hasan (@doctarz) discusses recent lawsuits and the effects of these harsh chemicals on children and teens. His videos earned him over 1.1 million views and 40,000 likes by Monday.
“I don't think we missed this before,” he says at the beginning of the video, but Prime “has been sued on two accounts this year alone.”
Why is Logan Paul's Prime being sued?
Dr. Hasan explains that the primary reason Prime is being sued is because the popular energy drink contains “excessive amounts of caffeine.”
Prime Energy Drink is listed on its website as containing 140mg of caffeine. Health.com points out that this drink actually contains “200 mg of caffeine per 12 oz.”
“The reason for the lawsuit is that this drink is primarily marketed to teenagers,” he said.
“Consuming this amount of caffeine during childhood, especially several times a day, can have a negative impact on a child's development,” Dr. Hasan added. High levels of caffeine can also “affect the heart,” he explains.
Dr. Hasan believes that exposure to high levels of caffeine at such an early age could be a “risk factor.”
According to Columbia University Irving Medical Center, “there is no known amount of caffeine that is safe for children under 11 years of age.”
“Until a safe amount is determined, people aged 12 to 17 should consume less than 100 mg of caffeine per day if avoidance is not possible,” the researchers added.
Dr. Hasan then says the second case is “actually more interesting.”
Dr. Hasan said prime grape flavor was found to contain significant levels of PFA chemicals.
Milberg says PFA chemicals are “known as 'forever chemicals' because they bioaccumulate, meaning they accumulate in the body over time.” These man-made chemicals have been well studied and have been shown to have negative effects on humans and the environment. ”
Risks include “reproductive harm, delayed growth in children, increased risk of cancer, decreased immune system response, interference with body hormones, increased cholesterol levels, and risk of obesity,” Milberg said. I am.
Dr. Hasan added a screenshot of the list of PFA chemicals found in grape hydration drinks to the video. A total of eight PFA chemicals were detected in him, according to the report.
“They're forever chemicals, they get into your body and they stay there forever,” he added. “Your body can't break them down, your liver can't break them down, and your kidneys can't flush them out.”
“You know the power of marketing, so you know kids are affected,” he says.
He then said that all of these claims were “alleged” and “have not yet been proven in court.” However, he believes that “these energy drinks are being promoted on social media, which is very worrying.”
Before ending the video, Dr. Hasan urges viewers to send their own videos to people they know who are taking Prime “as a warning.” This is because all of these lawsuit allegations have not been clarified.
@doctarz A major lawsuit regarding Prime Energy alleges excessive caffeine and large amounts of permanent chemicals. #primeenergy #loganpaul #pfas #doctor ♬ Epic News – DM production
A viewer in the comments section said: “This is a classic example of how you shouldn't just trust something just because it's popular or because there's an influencer or someone with a big platform behind it. This is an example (I'm not kidding).”
The Daily Dot reached out to Dr. Hasan and PRIME via email.
*First published: April 22, 2024, 1:53 PM CDT
Grace Fowler
Grace Fowler is a summer reporting and media fellow at the Daily Dot. She just graduated from Texas State University, where she studied mass communication.
