Monster Beverage Responds to DAWN Report: Says Doesn't Support That Drinks Are Unsafe

Monster Beverage Corporation(NASDAQ: MNST) said in a statement today that the recent Drug Abuse WarningNetwork (DAWN) report on so-called energy drink-related emergency departmentvisits is highly misleading and does not support any conclusion that energydrinks are unsafe for consumers.The DAWN report does not provide enough information to determine the nature ofpatients' complaints, the amount of caffeine consumed from all sources, orwhether there was any connection between the complaints and the consumption ofan energy drink, the company said. The DAWN report reflects no medical findingor diagnosis that consumption of energy drinks was, in fact, the reason forthe patient's emergency room visit.Any causal connection between energy drink consumption and emergency roomvisits is further substantially weakened by the existence of other factorsmore likely to have been responsible for the patients' medical issues, such asthe use of pharmaceuticals, alcohol or illegal drugs, which was reported by42% of patients, according to the DAWN report. This number was almostcertainly under reported because many of the patients, especially those under21, likely would have been reluctant to voluntarily admit this type ofinformation.Moreover, the DAWN report contains no comparative information showing how manyemergency room visits are associated with other widely consumed beverages.Notably, the DAWN project leader told the media that the report did not evenlook at ER visits associated with coffee consumption and could not say whetherpeople who had consumed significant quantities of caffeine from coffee orother sources do not likewise visit the ER.The DAWN report also misleadingly compares the caffeine content in energydrinks with that in a 5-ounce cup of coffee. The vast majority of coffeedrinks are consumed in sizes substantially larger than 5 ounces and containcaffeine levels similar to, and in many cases higher than, energy drinks. Infact, the leading brands of coffeehouse-brewed coffee typically contain morethan 20 mg of caffeine per ounce, which means a medium 16-ounce coffeehousecoffee contains at least 320 mg of caffeine.In contrast, Monster energy products generally contain approximately 10 mg ofcaffeine per ounce from all sources. A 16-ounce can of Monster Energytherefore contains roughly half the caffeine of a 16-ounce cup ofcoffeehouse-brewed coffee. Media reports that rely on the misleading coffeecomparison provided by DAWN, which have included a claim that three cans ofenergy drinks contain as much caffeine as 15 cups of coffee, are thereforesimply inaccurate.Tens of billions of energy drinks have been sold and safely consumed worldwidefor approximately 25 years, including more than 8 billion cans of MonsterEnergy® that have been sold and safely consumed in the United States andaround the world since 2002.