With more and more food companies looking to inject caffeine into their products, the United States Food and Drug Administration is monitoring how much caffeine is going into certain foods, according to the Associated Press. Companies are looking to put caffeine in items such as chips, jelly beans and gum.
The FDA said on Monday its planning to look into the foods with higher caffeine to judge their effects on children. This comes in response to Wrigley’s new Alert Energy Gum, which Wrigley’s says provides “the right energy, right now.” According to the website for the gum, one piece equals the caffeine in a half cup of coffee.
The FDA has already begun investigations into energy shots and energy drinks due to reports of death and illness.
According to FDA Deputy Commissioner of Foods Michael Taylor, there has only been one time in history that the FDA has approved more caffeine in foods—for colas in the 1950s. The amount of caffeine in foods now is "beyond anything FDA envisioned," Taylor said.
"It is disturbing," Taylor said. "We're concerned about whether they have been adequately evaluated."
Taylor said the agency will continue looking into the issues and has already sat down with companies such as Mars Inc, Wrigley is a subsidiary of the company, to discuss possible concerns. The FDA wants to make sure that the rise in caffeine products doesn’t negatively affect children.
According to Denise M. Young, a spokeswoman for Wrigley, the gum is "adults who are looking for foods with caffeine for energy."
"Millions of Americans consume caffeine responsibly and in moderation as part of their daily routines," Young said. She added that the company will cooperate with the FDA in addressing any caffeine concerns.
Gum isn’t the only edible entity getting a caffeine boost. Jelly Beans are also seeing a boost. Jelly Belly created “Extreme Sports Beans”—50 milligrams of caffeine in a 100-calorie pack. Arma Energy Snx is putting caffeine trail mix, chips and various other products.
Some organizations say it's not enough to market the caffeinated products as adult only. When caffeine is put into products such as candy and chips, it is going to attract kids. The American Academy of Pediatrics says caffeine has the potential to negatively affect a child’s neurologic and cardiovascular systems.
"Could caffeinated macaroni and cheese or breakfast cereal be next?" said Michael Jacobson, director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "One serving of any of these foods isn't likely to harm anyone. The concern is that it will be increasingly easy to consume caffeine throughout the day, sometimes unwittingly, as companies add caffeine to candies, nuts, snacks and other foods. "
Taylor said the agency would closely examine the situation since some products can have more negative effects than other. Last year the FDA said it had 92 reports over the past four years that cited illness, hospitalization, and death to various individuals who had consumed the energy shot 5-Hour Energy.
The agency stressed that while it was investigating the incidents, the reports did not mean there were causal effects.
In 2010 the FDA instructed caffeinated alcoholic beverage manufactures to cease putting caffeine in their drinks because it created the “wide-awake drunk” effect. This has caused alcohol poisoning, car accidents, and assaults.
