May 9 – Company recalls ‘Cocaine’ energy drink (US Food Labeling)

The Connecticut Post provides a discussion of beverage labeling in the United States:

Farrell and Blumenthal said that the company never paid a state licensing fee of $75 and was violating consumer-protection law by using the cocaine name to appeal to consumers as a “legal alternative” with 280 milligrams of caffeine per can, compared to Red Bull’s 80 mg.

Blumenthal added that the state worked with Texas and Illinois authorities to ban the beverage.

“This step will flush Cocaine out of our state and hopefully set a model for others as well,” he said. “We will now push for a nationwide ban, pulling this product off the shelves everywhere.”

“Beyond what the attorney general said, I think that there’s a simple message here that if you want to do business with the state of Connecticut you have to comply with our laws,” Farrell said, alleging that the company did not get a license from the food division of the Department of Consumer Protection.

Blumenthal said that it also violated state law. “To call a product a ‘legal alternative’ or ‘speed in a can,’ is deceptive and misleading under our consumer-protection laws,” he said.

For the full article see: Company recalls ‘Cocaine’ energy drink