what did we learn about product liability on this case

Eight defendants were convicted by a federal jury of attempting to increase profits by selling mislabeled and counterfeit 5-Hour Energy drinks. The defendants replaced the legitimate labels on over 350,000 bottles of 5-Hour Energy with false labels. They eventually started making fake energy drinks. They sold the product for a lower price than the market standard. This is one of the largest domestic food counterfeiting cases prosecuted by the United States Department of Justice. The owner was sentenced to 86 months in federal prison, while his wife received a 26-month sentence.

The evidence at trial established that Joseph Shayota, 64, and his wife, Adriana Shayota, 45, both of El Cajon, Calif., were the leaders of an illegal relabeling, repackaging, and eventual counterfeiting of the liquid dietary supplement 5-Hour ENERGY. Living Essentials owns the supplement, and all 5-Hour ENERGY is manufactured in Wabash, Indiana.

Through their company Tradeway International Inc., Joseph and Adriana Shayota have agreed to distribute 5-Hour ENERGY in Mexico. According to the evidence presented at trial, instead of distributing genuine 5-Hour ENERGY with Spanish-language labeling in Mexico, the Shayotas and the other charged defendants attempted to increase their profits by diverting, relabeling, repackaging and eventually counterfeiting the product. The evidence presented at trial established that the Shayotas and other charged co-defendants diverted the product in order to sell it at a higher price in the United States. The Shayotas took additional steps to profit illegally from the 5-Hour ENERGY product after initial efforts to sell the product failed due to the Spanish-language labeling and display boxes.

The Shayotas and other defendants replaced the labeling and display boxes with counterfeit English labels and boxes designed to look like Living Essentials packaging in the United States. Over 350,000 bottles of 5-Hour ENERGY were relabeled and repackaged by the defendants. The defendants removed the legitimate lot numbers and expiration dates, replaced them with false labeling, and sold them in the United States at a lower price than Living Essentials charged for authentic 5-Hour ENERGY from the United States. The Shayotas had sold off Baja's remaining stock of the repackaged/relabeled 5-Hour ENERGY by December 2011.

Further, the evidence at trial demonstrated that by early 2012, The Shayotas and other defendants began substituting a counterfeit product for the entire 5-Hour ENERGY product. They manufactured the counterfeit 5-Hour ENERGY liquid at an unsanitary facility and mixed unregulated ingredients in plastic vats while attempting to mimic the real 5-Hour ENERGY products. From approximately December 2011 through October 2012, the defendants ordered more than seven million counterfeit label sleeves and hundreds of thousands of counterfeit display boxes, and placed false lot and expiration codes on the bottles and boxes.

Consumers in the United States rely on the FDA to ensure that their foods and beverages are safe and nutritious. When criminals introduce counterfeit foods into the US market, they not only defraud consumers but also endanger their health. It makes me question all these purchases I make online and assume they are the real deal. It's obvious in some cases we may be getting counterfeit items. We think we are getting a good deal because who doesn't like to pay less for a product? But at least if you purchase from the manufacturer's website you know you are getting what you are paying for although it might cost a little more.