Another caffeine controversy for the ages

A Chicago hot dog with pickles, tomatoes, and tons of yellow mustard

Prime is not having a great moment in the US. Above: Logan Paul and KSI at WrestleMania 39. | Getty

I kind of don’t know who Logan Paul is. Like, I know he’s a person, and his Wikipedia page gives me phrases like “23 million YouTube subscribers,” “boxing,” and “‘Suicide Forest’ controversy.” Still, it just doesn’t stick. But maybe this latest drama will be the one that cements him in my mind.

In 2022, Paul and fellow internet man-about-town (and boxer) KSI started the sports and energy drink company PRIME. Their beverages, specifically the hydration beverage, quickly became incredibly popular, especially in the UK, with people rushing stores to get their hands on them, and selling them for wildly inflated prices online.

But New York Senator Chuck Schumer has asked the FDA to investigate Prime beverages due to the product Prime Energy’s frankly absurd caffeine content. At 12 fluid ounces, one can packs 200 milligrams of caffeine, the same as nearly two Red Bulls, or half of an adult’s safe daily intake. “One of the summer’s hottest status symbols for kids is not an outfit, or a toy—it’s a beverage,” Schumer said in a statement. “But buyer and parents beware because it’s a serious health concern for the kids it so feverishly targets.”

Schumer has a long history of making caffeine his personal enemy. He went after Four Loko after college students were being hospitalized left and right due to the combination of energizing ingredients and alcohol. He also targeted powdered caffeine, inhalable caffeine, and caffeinated peanut butter. After trying an original recipe Four Loko recently, I have to admit the man has a point, and Schumer has specifically criticized brands that appear to market to children with bright colors and strategic bodega placement.

However, in an Instagram story, Paul argues that the can of Prime Energy specifically says it’s not recommended for anyone under 18. He also says that Prime Hydration, the company’s other product that contains no caffeine, comes in a bottle easily distinguishable from the energy can. And a quick look at TikTok shows many videos of kids (and adults) specifically hyped about the hydration beverage, not the energy drink. But Schumer says that doesn’t matter. “Because the product is billed as a hydration and sports drink in its other near-identical form, kids are likely to ingest cans of this stuff with parents unaware—and that’s a recipe for disaster.”

Schumer is asking the FDA to “investigate Prime for its overall claims, its marketing and the caffeine content, and to seriously consider Prime’s target market of children as part of any investigation.” What the result of any investigation could be is unclear, but at the rate TikTok goes, by the time it’s done the kids may be on to the next trend. — Jaya Saxena, Eater correspondent

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