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Within the past nine months, Monster Beverage Corp. has been slapped with two high-profile lawsuits, each alleging that the company engages in unsafe and irresponsible marketing practices. Now, the energy drink giant is facing yet another potentially damaging hit to its reputation. The Associated Press (AP) today reported that Monster is facing a new lawsuit which claims that a nineteen-year-old’s death was tied to his habitual consumption of the company’s energy drinks.

The package accounts for only 2 percent of all soft drinks sales, but The Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo are looking at glass bottles as a potential growth area for a category mired in decline, according to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal. Buoyed by gains in the sale of soda in glass bottles and the premium price commanded by the package, the cola giants are increasing the availability of their products in glass.

“It’s super-exciting right now,” said founder Randy Shefshick. “Clearly, Sparkling Ice is the hottest product on the planet, and they’ve proven there’s a market for flavored sparkling water. We think we’re the natural alternative to that – almost like the Honest Tea of the sparkling water category.”

Proliferating independent coffee shops and efforts by the likes of McDonald’s to upgrade their coffee offerings are stimulating consumers to rethink their views about old man Joe, and stirring an abundance of new activity in the ready to drink coffee category.

Energy drinks marketed as dietary supplements have received their share of negative news stories over the past eighteen months, and many companies are weighing various options to find relief from the mounting concerns surrounding these products. One option that is being explored by many companies is the reclassification of liquid dietary supplements as beverages. However, making this switch is not as easy as just changing the name on the front of the can.