A US consumer class action lawsuit filed in a California US District court claims the brand’s grape flavour contains dangerous synthetic chemicals that have harmed people.

The lawsuit alleges the beverage has high levels of Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS), a group of synthetic chemicals that are harmful to human health and the environment. PFAS are often called “forever chemicals” due to the fact they bioaccumulate and do not leave the organism they contaminated.

Prime energy drinks were launched by internet celebrities Logan Paul and KSI in 2022 and quickly went viral, with bottle prices soaring.

In a video response to the allegations, Paul said: "This ain't a rinky dink operation, we use the top bottle manufacturers in the United States.” He added they used the same bottler producers as brands including Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Tropicana.

Health risks are only attributed to PFAS levels higher than 0.02 parts per trillion (ppt). The lawsuit claims that an independent third-party tests got a 0.06 ppt result from a Prime beverage, three times what is advised.

Addressing the independent study, Paul said: “They're claiming Prime has 0.06 ppt but that's interesting because the EPA says anything under 1.1 ppt cannot be deemed reasonably accurate…it means the detection limit is 66 times more than what they're claiming we have in our drink.”

The plaintiff is requesting a jury trial and is seeking damages to be paid by Prime for allegedly misleading the public and causing harm with its products.

“Anyone can sue anyone at any time, that does not make the lawsuit true and in this case, it is not,” Paul said.

This is not the first time the founder has publicly defended his product from criticism.

Last year, Paul defended the caffeine levels found in Prime Energy drinks.

“It has 200 milligrams of caffeine and that’s nothing revolutionary or out of the ordinary. It’s the same amount as Gatorade Fast Twitch, which is the same amount as Celsius, and 100 milligrams less than Bang Energy,” Paul told Fox Business at the time.

“What we’re doing is comparable to every other competitor in the market,” Paul told Fox Business.”

Last year, Denmark’s food watchdog hit out at the illegal sales of the energy drink in domestically and banned five companies from marketing the product due to health concerns.