New Internet-based ads for the 5-hour Energy dietary-supplement drink give the deceptive and misleading impression that CSPI believes the product is safe. We do not. In fact, until the Food and Drug Administration gets to the bottom of the
13 deaths and other serious health events that have been linked to 5-hour Energy, including heart attacks, convulsions, and a spontaneous abortion, we advise people NOT to purchase or consume 5-hour Energy.
The new ad for 5-Hour Energy takes out of context
a quote I gave to Time magazine about caffeine in which I said that it is hard to fatally overdose on caffeine alone. Yet 5-hour Energy includes more ingredients than an undisclosed amount of caffeine (reported to be about 215 milligrams). It also
includes large doses of B vitamins, as well as an "energy blend" that contains chemicals such as citicoline, tyrosine, phenylalanine, taurine, malic acid, glucuronolactone, unspecified natural and artificial flavors, sucralose, potassium sorbate, and sodium benzoate. It is conceivable that interactions between, or contaminants in, the various ingredients could be responsible for illnesses or deaths.
If you share my outrage that 5-hour Energy is trying to imply CSPI’s endorsement of the product, I invite you to call 5-hour Energy CEO Manoj Bhargava at
248-960-1700 or Tweet at the company at
@5HourEnergyGuy. And please do take the time to contact your friends and family and let them know that CSPI never endorses any product of any kind and we certainly do not stand by the safety of 5-hour Energy.
Thank
you for reading.
Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D.
P.S. A reminder that by following
@CSPI on Twitter or
‘liking’ us on Facebook you can learn of news like this and other breaking developments on nutrition, food safety, and health.
