Recalled Monster Energy product was not meant for sale in Canada, says company

Monster releases a statement in response to a recent recall notice issued by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) of Monster’s caffeinated energy drinks due to caffeine content and labelling issues.

In that statement, Monster clarifies that the company has an exclusive sales and distribution relationship with Coca-Cola Canada Bottling Limited (CCCBL) for Monster Energy products that are marketed and sold in Canada.

“Monster takes compliance very seriously and specifically formulates and labels all products for sale and distribution in Canada to comply with Canadian requirements, including regulatory limitations on caffeine (which other countries may not share) and bilingual labelling requirements. In addition, all Monster Energy drinks for the Canadian market have been authorized for sale by Health Canada,” it added.

According to the statement, Monster was not contacted by the CFIA regarding this recall, and that it is actively trying to get additional information from the regulator.

Monster suspects that this product was formulated and labelled to meet the regulatory requirements of another country and was not intended for Canada, but nonetheless ended up in the possession of a third-party, unknown to Monster, that is named in the recall notice.

“It is likely the products were transhipped from a country outside of Canada,” said the statement. “Neither Monster nor CCCBL were named in the recall notice. This further reinforces Monster’s view that these products were not intended for the Canadian market.  Monster does not believe this recall has any impact on Monster products formulated and labelled for Canada. Monster continues to try to engage with the CFIA on this issue.”