City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s attempt to curtail Monster Beverage Corp. from marketing its highly caffeinated energy drinks to minors is getting heated, with the company going to federal court to try to stop Herrera’s investigation. 
 
 In a lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Monster says Herrera’s effort would “impose undue burdens on interstate commerce” and violate constitutionally protected “commercial speech” and other rights. 
 
 The lawsuit also contends that “(Herrera) appears to be motivated by publicity rather than science.” 
 
 Herrera has been investigating the Corona (Riverside County)-based maker of Monster Energy drinks since October under the state’s unfair competition law, targeting its marketing claims that the amount of caffeine in its products is “completely safe” and that consumers “can never get too much of a good thing!” 
 
 In March, Herrera joined a group of 18 doctors from medical centers across the country in calling for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate caffeine levels in energy drinks, saying the beverages pose health risks, particularly for youths. 
 
 Under current FDA standards, caffeine in sodas can register no higher than about 71 milligrams per 12-oz. serving. Energy drinks often have between 100 and 300 milligrams of caffeine per 8-oz. serving and are often sold in much larger quantities per can, according to the doctors’ letter. 
 
 “The best available scientific evidence demonstrates a robust correlation between the caffeine levels in energy drinks and adverse health and safety consequences, particularly among children, adolescents, and young adults,” according to the doctors’ letter, which included signatories from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health and UCSF’s pediatric and cardiology divisions 
 
 Monster markets to children as young as 6 years old, according to Herrera’s office, which produced screen shots from the beverage company’s “Monster Army” website listing an 11-year-old as a “Monster Army Major” and a 6-year-old as a “Reserve.” 
 
 The company, in its lawsuit, maintains that its product has less than half the caffeine of a Starbucks coffee. 
 
 “Today, any child can walk into a Starbucks and buy an unlimited number of ‘Grande’ (16-oz.) brewed coffee drinks-each one with more than twice the caffeine (330mg) as one of (Monsters’) 16-oz. energy drinks-with no restrictions or limitations,” the company’s attorneys wrote. 
 
 That is not the same thing, according to Herrera’s office. 
 
 “Starbucks isn’t marketing sweet drinks that are highly caffeinated to young people,” Herrera spokesman Matt Dorsey said. “The scientific consensus is these products are not safe for children.” 
 
 Herrera, in a statement, vowed to aggressively fight what he termed “an apparently pre‐emptive lawsuit.” 
 
 “Monster Energy is claiming an unfettered right to continue marketing its products to children and youth, even in the face of overwhelming evidence that its products pose serious risks to young people’s health and safety,” said Herrera. “I intend to litigate this case aggressively to reform their irresponsible marketing and business practices, which I believe clearly violate California’s consumer protection laws.” ||||| The American Medical Association may throw its clout behind sales and advertising bans of “high-energy/stimulant drinks” to young people under age 18, pending more scientific study about health risks. 
 
 A debate schedule for this weekend by the AMA’s policy-making House of Delegates comes amid intensifying scrutiny of energy drinks, which are popular particularly among young adults who get a boost from caffeine and other ingredients in the beverages. 
 
 But a resolution from the New York State Medical Society that will be discussed at this year’s annual AMA meeting in Chicago cites an increase in emergency room visits the physicians said was “linked to the consumption of ‘stimulant’ drinks.” Doctors have also cited probes like that of the New York State Attorney General’s investigation into drink makers that include Monster Beverage Monster Beverage Corp. (MNST) and PepsiCo PepsiCo Inc. (PEP). 
 
 Though any action this weekend by the AMA’s policy-making House of Delegates has no legal authority over the sale of high-energy drinks, the national doctor’s group has a bully pulpit on public health issues. The AMA is also considered a powerful lobby in Washington and in state capitols across the county where it holds sway when it comes to medical policy and health regulations. 
 
 “The popularity of stimulant drinks has increased markedly in recent years with sales increasing 240 percent from 2004-2009, with further data indicating that these drinks are consumed by 30 to 50 percent of children, adolescents, and young adults,” the New York delegation to the AMA House of delegates said in its resolution. “Studies have shown that high ‘stimulant’ drinks contain excessive amounts of caffeine with one can having the equivalent of up to 50 cups of coffee. Excessive caffeine can cause adverse effects such as dizziness, insomnia, agitation, restlessness, anxiety, GI disturbances, myocardial infarction and death.” 
 
 Any push by the AMA could meet resistance from drink makers. 
 
 Monster, for example, earlier this year has fought back against curbs on sales of its drinks such as a suit it filed against the San Francisco City Attorney this spring. Monster has also said labeling on its drinks caution that the beverages are “not recommended for children, pregnant women or people sensitive to caffeine,” according to an April report in the Wall Street Journal linked here. 
 
 The resolution regarding energy drinks is among dozens that will be debated at the AMA’s 524-member House of Delegates, which convenes Saturday to Wednesday at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. 
 
 Aside from endorsing a ban on such drinks, AMA delegates are also pushing for more scientific study of energy drinks. 
 
 On June 18, the AMA’s policy-making House of Delegates adopted policy supporting a ban on the marketing, but not on the sale of “high stimulant/caffeine drinks to adolescents under the age of 18. Here’s a link to AMA statement on the new policy. 
 
 Said AMA board member Dr. Alexander Ding, “Energy drinks contain massive and excessive amounts of caffeine that may lead to a host of health problems in young people, including heart problems, and banning companies from marketing these products to adolescents is a common sense action that we can take to protect the health of American kids.”
– San Francisco's city attorney wants Monster Beverage to cut down on both the caffeine in its energy drinks and the marketing of them, and the company is fighting back in federal court. Monster sued the office of Dennis Herrera this week, arguing that its drinks are no more harmful than a cup of Starbucks coffee and making the case that only the FDA can regulate the market, reports the Wall Street Journal. One thing in particular that irritates Herrera is that the company has a Monster Army website for kids that shows an 11-year-old "Monster Army Major" and a 6-year-old "Reserve," reports the San Francisco Chronicle. So, yes, the energy drinks have less caffeine than a cup at Starbucks, but the coffee chain "isn’t marketing sweet drinks that are highly caffeinated to young people,” says a Herrera spokesperson. The legal fight comes amid heightened scrutiny of energy drinks not only by the FDA but by New York state in particular.