Senator Says YouTuber Logan Paul’s Energy Drink Unsafe For Kids

Controversial YouTuber Logan Paul is making headlines again, as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) asks the Food and Drug Administration to investigate the influencer’s energy drink , Prime. For what? Well, it’s feared that it’s potentially dangerous for children, with one can containing the same amount of caffeine as six cans of Coke.

Schumer held a press conference on July 9, telling reporters that the influencer’s energy drink “could endanger the health of childrendue to its “absurd caffeine content and child-targeted social media marketing.”

Associated press

“One of the hottest status symbols of summer for kids isn’t an outfit, it’s not a toy, it’s a drink,” Schumer said. “But the buyer and parents are wary because it’s a serious health issue for the children he’s so feverishly targeting. […] And the problem here is that the product contains so much caffeine that it puts Red Bull to shame, but unlike Red Bull, [Prime] is specifically targeted – the advertising campaign is aimed at children under the age of 18. I publish a letter [on July 9] asking the FDA to investigate Prime for number one, its claims; second, it is marketing to children; and number three, its mind-blowing caffeine content.

Introduced in January 2022, Prime is an energy drink founded and promoted by YouTubers Logan Paul and Olajide “KSI” Olatunji. According The Associated Pressthe energy drink was “an immediate sensation”, leading to long lines at grocery stores, frequently running out of stock and child dealers on school property. Despite claiming to be sugar-free and advertised as vegan, energy drinks have extremely high levels of caffeine. As NBC News reporting, one can of Prime contains approximately 200 mg of the stimulant, which is equivalent to almost two cans of Red Bull. And according to The New York Times, the drinks began appearing in fourth- and fifth-grade canteens in the public school district of Wilmington, Massachusetts, last March. However, district health services coordinator Rebecca Brown said some schools were experiencing student health and safety issues.

“We even had entrepreneurs in fourth and fifth grade bringing them to school and selling them to other kids for lunch,” Brown said. “Shortly after drinking them, the students showed up at the health office saying they weren’t feeling well and their hearts were racing.”

This high caffeine content has prompted regulatory action around the world. The drink was banned in New Zealandas well as in schools in various countries such as Australia, Canada, South Africa, Great BritainAnd United States Even celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay trolled Prime, giving it a “0/10” and saying it’s like “swallowing perfume” in a January 2023 interview with British radio show Heart UK.

In an email to Kotaku, a representative for Prime said the brand’s “top priority” is consumer safety, saying it was open to discussion with the FDA or other regulatory agencies in order to guarantee that the product is safe for consumption.

“Prime has two drinks on the market, hydration and energy,” the rep said. “It is very important to distinguish between the two products because they are very different. We kicked off Prime last year with the launch of Hydration, a healthier sports drink alternative that comes in a bottle. Prime Energy, sold in a can, dropped in 2023 and contains an amount of caffeine comparable to other top-selling energy drinks, all within the legal limit of the countries in which it is sold. It complied with all FDA guidelines before entering the market and clearly states on the packaging, as well as in marketing materials, that it is an energy drink and is not not intended for under 18s.

However, Schumer said there was little discernible difference between the marketing of the drinks, leading parents to think they were buying juice for their children, only to end up with the elixir of jitters that is the main energy drink.

“A simple social media search for Prime will generate an overwhelming amount of sponsored content, which is advertising,” Schumer said. “This content and the claims made need to be investigated, along with the ingredients and caffeine content of Prime energy drink.”

Kotaku has reached out to KSI, Paul, and Schumer for comment.

It comes almost six months after Logan Paul was hit by a class action on his NFT game, CryptoZoo, which reportedly cost investors hundreds of thousands of dollars. Paul admitted that some of the developers of this game were “crooksbut in the end he didn’t scam anyone and promised to reimburse the persons concerned– although it seems Paul didn’t do that Again.