Monster Energy Hit With Proposed Class Suit Over Labels, Marketing of Caffeinated Drinks

Energy drink makers Monster Beverage Corp. and Monster Energy Co. misleadingly sell “a highly caffeinated concoction—the monster energy drinks” as if they were conventional beverages or food, a California man alleges in a proposed consumer class suit filed Dec. 12 in federal court (Fisher v. Monster Beverage Corp., C.D. Cal., No. 12-2188).

Alec Fisher contends the defendants fail to disclose the caffeine content in their products, and deceptively categorize the drinks as “energy supplements” rather than as beverages or foods.

This marketing tactic “is an attempt to circumvent the safety standards applicable to food and beverage additives and ...