Oops, That Celsius Was Alcoholic — Can I Still Be Charged with DUI?

Recently, Celsius, the popular energy drink brand, accidentally put alcohol into their drinks. Consumers reportedly drank it without realizing it contained alcohol. Naturally, this raises a big legal question: if you unknowingly drank an alcoholic Celsius and then drove, could you still be charged with an OUI (Operating Under the Influence)? In both Connecticut and Massachusetts, the answer is very likely yes.

Connecticut law treats OUI as a general intent crime, meaning the prosecution doesn’t need to prove you meant to get drunk or impaired — just that you meant to drive. This was made clear in the case of State v. Borrelli, where the defendant was convicted after driving erratically under the influence of allergy and prescription medications. Even though she didn’t realize the combination would impair her, the court upheld the conviction. Under Connecticut law (General Statutes § 53a-7), intoxication isn’t a defense to crimes of general intent — and DUI is one of them. Unlike specific intent crimes, which require proof that a defendant intended a particular result (like intending to harm someone), general intent only requires that the person intended to do the physical act — in this case, driving. Since Borrelli voluntarily got behind the wheel, her impaired state didn’t excuse her actions, and the conviction stood.

Massachusetts takes a slightly different but still strict approach. The courts have recognized a narrow involuntary intoxication defense, but it mostly applies to cases involving prescription medications. According to Commonwealth v. Bishop, a defendant may be acquitted of OUI if their intoxication was caused solely by taking a legal prescription as prescribed, they had no warning or reason to expect it would impair them, and no reason to ask their doctor about its effects on driving. But even that defense has limits. If alcohol plays any contributing role — even mixed unknowingly with the medication — the defense disappears. In other words, if you took your meds as directed but accidentally drank alcohol (like in the case of an alcoholic Celsius), you can’t claim you didn’t know how the combo would affect you.

And here’s where it gets fuzzier: Massachusetts courts haven’t yet ruled on whether this same protection applies to legal but non-prescription drugs — like over-the-counter sleep aids or antihistamines. It’s an open question whether someone impaired by an OTC drug they didn’t realize would affect them can successfully argue involuntary intoxication. That legal gray area hasn’t been tested with beverages like Celsius either. So far, there’s no case law that directly tackles a situation where someone mistakenly consumed alcohol because a beverage wasn’t clearly labeled or was confused with a non-alcoholic version.

But based on how courts have treated similar cases, it’s likely that a defense based on “I didn’t know there was alcohol in this” wouldn’t be enough. Both Connecticut and Massachusetts courts care most about whether you knowingly chose to drive while impaired — not necessarily whether you knew what caused the impairment. So even if a drink like alcoholic Celsius was consumed by mistake, and even if you didn’t feel drunk per se, you could still face legal consequences if you were found to be impaired behind the wheel.

With companies increasingly blurring the lines between traditional soft drinks and alcoholic versions, it’s becoming easier to make this kind of mistake. But under current OUI laws, the responsibility may still fall on the driver. If you’re impaired, and you chose to drive, that’s often all the state needs to convict — even if your drink was sneakily spiked with booze you didn’t expect.

In short: yes, if you drank an alcoholic Celsius by mistake and drove while impaired, you could absolutely be charged with OUI. And right now, the law doesn’t offer much of a safety net for that kind of mistake.

CAN I SUE CELSIUS IF I GET A DUI?

Yes — you probably can. Under a basic negligence theory, Celsius had a legal duty to ensure that their drinks were clearly labeled and that no alcohol was accidentally put into a product marketed as non-alcoholic. If they breached that duty — by failing to make it obvious the drink contained alcohol — and that breach caused foreseeable harm, like you getting an OUI or experiencing unexpected intoxication, that opens the door for legal liability.

The harm here is foreseeable. Getting involuntarily drunk and then facing legal consequences or physical danger is exactly the kind of outcome a reasonable company should try to prevent. How much is that “worth” in a lawsuit? That’s harder to pin down. The damages from getting an OUI or being involuntarily intoxicated are difficult to quantify, especially if you didn’t suffer physical injuries or incur medical expenses. But if there are medical bills — for example, you got into a crash or needed treatment — those give the court something solid to measure damages against.

What strengthens your position even more is the fact that Celsius is a major company with a big PR stake. If the situation looks bad — say you’ve been sober for decades, or you suffered serious consequences — that’s the kind of story a jury might sympathize with. And that makes Celsius more likely to settle for a “nice chunk” to avoid a public trial. The bigger the risk of a jury awarding even more damages based on sympathy or outrage, the more the company has incentive to cut a check and make it go away.

In these kinds of cases, optics matter just as much as black letter law. If a jury sees you as the unsuspecting, responsible person who was blindsided by a corporate mistake, your chances for a favorable settlement go way up.

So yes, you could get an OUI even if you didn’t realize you drank alcohol — and yes, you might have a valid lawsuit against the company that failed to warn you. How strong your claim is depends on the facts, the documentation, and, frankly, how it all looks in front of a jury.

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