In June 2013, a lawsuit towards Monster Energy was filed by the family of a girl who was dead after drinking monster energy drinks in 2011. Similarly, Red Bull will get a wrongful death lawsuit since a man was dead while drinking Red Bull energy drinks in 2011. Actually, according to a study in 2009, there were 18 deaths and 13,000 hospital visits due to energy drinks. Those death incidents provoke people’s thinking about risks of energy drinks.
How do death incidents affect energy drink companies? Firstly, the health concern affects people’s preference. Fewer people will buy energy drinks, which negatively influences the energy drink market. More importantly, the death incidents are negative publicity. Deaths have a negative impact on reputations and images of energy drink companies.
According to some foods safety tests, Caffeine in some tasty energy drinks exceeds the safe dose, which causes health incidents. For me, it is not ethical to add too much caffeine to get a better flavor since the people’s health is impaired. Ingredients of some energy drinks should be redesigned so that they contain lower level of caffeine and still keep the good flavor.
References：http://business.time.com/2013/10/28/red-bull-sued-for-85-million-in-mans-death/