CORRECTION: The story originally misidentified energy drinks as the only products boosting sales in the beverage market. But bottled water and sports drinks are also showing modest growth. The text has been corrected.
Another highly caffeinated beverage is making headlines. This time its that shot of wake up juice known as 5-hour Energy. The Federal Drug Administration is investigating to see if the product is related to 13 reported deaths.
The drink’s ads say if you’re sleepy, groggy, or need a nap you should take a 5-hour Energy, “and see what the rest of your day feels like.” Perhaps not so good if you were involved in one of the more than 90 adverse event reports the FDA has on file for the drink.
The FDA’s Shelly Burgess says those reports include, “33 hospitalizations as well as 13 deaths.” She adds that her agency is, “looking into each and every one of those adverse event reports.” This comes less than a month after the FDA said it was investigating another drink: Monster Energy.
John Sicher, editor of Beverage Digest says, “it’s probably too soon to tell if this will have an impact on the growth of the energy drink products.” He says, as of today, carbonated soft drink sales are down, bottled water and sports drinks are showing modest growth, but those energy drinks are giving the sleepy beverage industry the strongest boost.
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