Dive Brief:
- Oregon's top law-enforcement official is demanding information from the makers of 5-Hour Energy shots to support its advertising claims that the beverage is recommended by doctors and doesn't cause users to crash.
- Oregon has taken the lead in efforts to ban the drink, which a database operated by the federal Food and Drug Administration suggests is linked to 11 deaths.
- The state has taken legal action to compel the drink's manufacturers and marketers-- Innovation Ventures LLC, Living Essentials LLC and Microdose Sales LLC—to release uncensored documents about its composition.
Dive Insight:
Hooray for Oregon. We're behind its effort 100 percent. Certainly we have seen regulators and law enforcement types who overreach. We know the type—they are more interested in headlines than in truth. But the battle over 5-Hour Energy is a fight worth having. Does anyone not have doubts about the claim that 73% of doctors surveyed recommended 5-Hour?