Monster Beverage Corporation claims its nemesis from last winter, the Orlando-based trial lawyers Morgan & Morgan, have dropped all the lawsuits filed against the energy drink maker last February and March. More than a dozen were filed amid a swirl of publicity. Food Safety News invited one of the Morgan & Morgan attorneys involved in the litigation to comment on the case dismissals, but did not get any response. 
“The voluntary dismissal of these lawsuits, we believe, speaks volumes,” said Marc P. Miles of Shook, Hardy & Bacon, counsel for Monster Energy Company. “We believe fairness dictates that the media now write about the dismissals.” Shook, Hardy and Bacon did, through a representative, provide Food Safety News with copies of the dockets and dismissal motions. Morgan & Morgan had filed lawsuits against Monster Energy Co. and Monster Beverage Corp. on behalf of clients who claimed to have “suffered serious, permanent and life-altering injuries as a result of regular consumption of its (energy drink) products.” After the lawsuits were filed, Morgan & Morgan held a press conference on the purported dangers of drinking Monster Energy beverages. The company wants to correct that record. “There is a lot of misinformation in the public about energy drinks,” Miles continued. “Once the substantial body of scientific evidence is reviewed, the safety of Monster Energy drinks becomes readily apparent. “Recent scientific studies specifically conducted on Monster Energy drinks and published in peer-reviewed medical journals concluded there was no safety concern associated with the consumption of Monster Energy drinks. Over the past 14 years, more than 16 billion Monster Energy drinks have been sold and safely consumed worldwide,” he said. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have both found no health concerns from the consumption of energy drinks or their ingredients at the levels used in the beverages. Monster Energy argues that its product delivers about half the caffeine for a medium coffee from all sources. A 12-ounce Monster Energy drink contains 160 mg of caffeine from all sources. FDA figures a healthy adult can handle 400 mg per day without causing toxicity or cardiovascular effects. The company can now cite a peer-reviewed University of Texas Austin study that came to this conclusion: “While it is difficult to directly compare this study findings with other reports, for a variety of methodological reasons, our findings suggest that consumption of a commercially available energy drink does not adversely affect cardiac QTc interval, induces a slight pressor response (in Protocol #1) and induces bradycardia for up to 7 hours postconsumption. In fact, the effect of the energy drink was similar to the effect of coffee and water consumption.” FDA has yet to identify any safety studies that call into question the safety of combinations of various ingredients added to energy drinks under intended conditions of use. EFSA and Health Canada have also concluded that a daily caffeine intake of up to 400 mg for adults is not associated with adverse health effects. EFSA also found that other common ingredients of energy drinks are unlikely to adversely interact with caffeine. Based in Corona, CA, Monster Beverage Corp. is a holding company and conducts no operating business except through its consolidated subsidiaries. Monster’s subsidiaries develop and market energy drinks, including Monster Energy energy drinks, Monster Energy Extra Strength Nitrous Technology energy drinks, Java Monster non-carbonated coffee + energy drinks, M3 Monster Energy Super Concentrate energy drinks, Monster Rehab non-carbonated energy drinks with electrolytes, Muscle Monster Energy Shakes, Übermonster energy drinks, NOS energy drinks, Full Throttle energy drinks, Burn energy drinks, Samurai energy drinks, Relentless energy drinks, Mother energy drinks, Power Play energy drinks, BU energy drinks, Nalu energy drinks, BPM energy drinks, Gladiator energy drinks, and Ultra energy drinks. (To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here.)
