PRIME recently became the official sports drink of UFC, but not every product in the PRIME library is going to make it out of the first round.
PRIME Energy drink is not welcome in Canada, eh.
That might not seem like a problem on the surface, since social media influencers Logan Paul and KSI, the (cough) “brains” behind the operation, do not distribute the hyper-caffeinated product in Canada, but that hasn’t stopped bootleggers from sneaking the adults-only beverage across the border.
CBC News reporters purchased a can of PRIME Energy at a store in Montreal on Wednesday, with workers explaining how the product was effortlessly imported from the United States. In addition, Walmart Canada was peddling PRIME Energy online up until this week, likely unaware that it was sold in violation of existing regulations.
“If you sort of picture the amount of goods that come into Canada on any given day, it’s sort of difficult to police this sort of thing,” attorney Glenford Jameson told CBC News. “They don’t spend a lot of time patrolling shelves or rifling through boxes at the border for lower-risk products like PRIME Energy.”
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) issued a recall notice on Wednesday, one that also includes popular energy drinks 3D Alphaland, 5-Hour Energy, Celsius, GFuel, and Sting, for exceeding Canada’s acceptable caffeine limit of 180 milligrams per serving. PRIME has 200 milligrams of caffeine per can.
“The affected products are being recalled from the marketplace due to various non-compliances related to caffeine content and labelling requirements,” CFIA wrote on its website. “The affected products have been sold nationally and online. Do not consume, use, sell, serve or distribute recalled products.”
Paul blamed “bad media” for the reports in a subsequent Twitter video.
“The crazy part about that is, we don’t even distribute PRIME Energy in Canada!” Paul shouted on camera. “So how could it be recalled? The answer is: Illegal or unauthorized imports of the beverage. But of course, traditional media doesn’t care about that, because they just want a headline. They want clicks. The level of misinformation currently being spread around PRIME is actually insane.”
PRIME Energy is being sold in Canada and CFIA wants it gone, regardless of how it got there, which is pretty cut and dry from an information standpoint. But I guess it’s much easier to cry clickbait! than take ownership of a product that is clearly suffering from growing pains, despite its high-profile sponsorship.
U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer recently asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate PRIME Energy over its exorbitant caffeine levels, labeling the controversial drink “a serious health concern.” Not surprisingly, both Paul and KSI have remained tight-lipped over those reports.
Can’t say Paddy didn’t warn us.