Wrigley pulls gum with caffeine in them temporarily off the market as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigates the safety of added caffeine, particularly its potential effects on children and young adults.
Wrigley Co. said it has "paused" sales of Alert Energy, which came in brightly-colored packages, targeted at a younger demographic. Each piece of gum contains 40 milligrams of caffeine per piece -- about the same as half a cup of coffee. The move to pull the caffeinated Wrigley gum from shelves comes a little more than a week after the product's April 29 launch.
The FDA recently met with Wrigley to discuss saftefy concerns regarding its caffeinated gum and although there are already many caffeinated gum on the market, they're all sold by companies that solely specialize in energy products. FDA was concerned that this may be targeted heavily towards children and they said it would launch an investigation into the effects that added caffeine has on children.
"After discussions with the FDA, we have a greater appreciation for its concern about the proliferation of caffeine in the nation's food supply," Casey Keller, Wrigley's president for North America, said in a statement.
Keller called for "changes in the regulatory framework to better guide the consumers and the industry about the appropriate level and use of caffeinated products."
Wrigley's caffeinated gum is called "Alert Energy Gum" which promises "The right energy, right now." The American Academy of Pediatrics stated in 2011 that "caffeine ... has been linked to a number of harmful health effects in children, including effects on the developing neurologic and cardiovascular systems," according to Live Science.
It's unclear whether Wrigley's move will curb Americans' love of trendy caffeinated products, which appears to be unstoppable. Sales of specialty coffees, for example, rose from about 37 percent of total coffee sales in 2011 to 46 percent in 2012, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
