About CAFFEINE

Due to my diabetes, I subscribe to NUTRITION ACTION, a health newsletter published by The Center for Science in the Public Interest. In the March, 2008 issue, the lead article is intitled "CAFFEINE The Good, the Bad and the Maybe." Here is an article "Caffeine America" published as a sidebar to the main article: Caffeine America Up until ten years ago. the only foods with added caffeine were soft drinks. And the Food and Drug Administration limited the amount to 48 milligrams per eight ounces. That changed in 1997, when the first popular energy drink-an Austrian import called RED BULL-hit the U.S. Every 8-ounce can of the sweetened fortified water contains 80 mg of caffeine. "For whatever reasons, the FDA decided not to challenge RED BULL," says caffeine expert Roland Griffiths of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. "And that started the aggressive marketing of caffeine-containing food products." RED BULL's success attracted copycats. Drinks like ADRENALINE RUSH, NO FEAR, and ROCKSTAR PUNCHED pushed caffeine levels to 240 mg per 16 oz can. And with the FDA looking the other way, the drive to caffeinate has spilled over to candy bars, hot cereal, chewing gum, chips, jelly beans, mints, beer, and more. GOTTA HAVE IT Caffeine isn't just any food additive. "It's a pharmacological agent, a drug, and it leads to physical dependence in people who use it regularly," says Griffiths. After less than a week of consuming caffeine every day, most people will experience headache, fatigue, decreased alertness, and/or drowsiness if they stop. Caffeine is also different from other food additives because, like nicotine and amphetamines, it functions as a "drug reinforcer," says Griffiths. In other words, people are more likely to choose a food with caffeine over one that's caffeine-free. That hasn't been lost on food and beverage companies, notes Griffiths. "Caffeine increases the probability that the product will be bought and consumed. And it induces dependence and builds customer loyalty. That's probably the reason that 70 percent of soft drinks have added caffeine." PUSHING LABELING In 1997, we petitioned the FDA to require labels of foods with caffeine to list how much is in each serving. This January, the Fed said that the petition "is still active and pending and the Angency has not reached any decision yet." You can help push the federal tortoise along by signing and mailing this coupon. [also published is the coupon referred to:] To: FDA Dockets Management [HFA-305] -Docket No. 97P-0329 5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061 Rockville, MD, 20852 From: ______________________ _______________________ _______________________ As a member of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, I urge you to act on the 1997 petition by CSPI and-as recommended by the American Medical Association-require labels of foods that contain significant amounts of caf- feine to disclose how much is in each serving.