WHAT ABOUT COFFEE AND CAFFEINE
Information for educational purposes only is taken from cspinet.org website and other sources.
It’s not easy to get a handle on caffeine and health. One month scientists seem to say that it’s bad for you. The next month they say that a cup or two of coffee a day is harmless. The Science of Wellness has the answer to this and many other condradictions that are manifesting in the care giving industry that only confusess everyone. There are good easy to understand scientific answers to this double sided, GOOD - BAD FOR YOU PICTURE!
“Trying to link our health to what we eat is always tough, but it’s especially complicated with caffeine,” says Alan Leviton, a neuroepidemiologist at the Harvard Medical School.
This may be true for the medical community but it is a simple understandable problem to anyone who has taken our Science of Wellness Course!
Their answer to this double edges sward is derived from a futal mental exercise that only gives good sounding but misleading and often false conclusions. What is the truth to what is manifesting when a food, natural product or drug is discovered to cause good and bad effects? It can only be found in the Science of Wellness Course.
Take our course and you will learn why aspirin causes side effects in one person and helps another person with the same problems, that is, why does it help heart attack victoms and also cause heart attacks? Why does it help pain but also cause pain, etc. plus a whole list of bad side effects! This same process is going to be observed with everything that is out in your environment that you think you can use all of the time, but you find out that you cannot.
Why does Ritalin help depression and also cause depression, help hyperactive people and cause hyperactivity?
Do you want to know the answer? Take our course and be free of this confusion!
Dr, Keviton's answer is really a lot of non-sense although what he says does have some effect on the outcome but he does not really give or have the answer, but the science does!
Dr. Leviton continues:
That’s because we rarely consume caffeine by itself. We swallow it mixed with sugar or hundreds of other chemicals in coffee, tea, cocoa, and colas. And how much caffeine you get depends on the type of coffee or tea you drink, how it’s brewed, how big your mug is —— even the type of coffee —— maker you use. Researchers rarly have all those details.
To complicate the picture, decaf drinkers are more likely than other coffee drinkers to take care of themselves. They tend to take more vitamins, exercise more faithfully, and eat more cruciferous vegetables like broccoli. They’re even more likely to use seat belts when they drive.
And heavy-coffee-drinkers generally smoke more, drink more alcohol, and eat more fatty foods than non-coffee-drinkers.
It’s not easy to get a handle on caffeine and health. One month scientists seem to say that it’s bad for you. The next month they say that a cup or two of coffee a day is harmless.
“Trying to link our health to what we eat is always tough, but it’s especially complicated with caffeine,” says Alan Leviton, a neuroepidemiologist at the Harvard Medical School.
This is, perhaps true for Dr. Leviton and many others, but is not the truth to those who know the Science of Wellenss! There are answers to these problems, but they are not the ones Medical Doctors come up with! The truth is, the answer is very simple!
That’s because we rarely consume caffeine by itself. We swallow it mixed with sugar or hundreds of other chemicals in coffee, tea, cocoa, and colas. And how much caffeine you get depends on the type of coffee or tea you drink, how it’s brewed, how big your mug is —— even the type of coffee —— maker you use. Researchers rarely have all those details.
Caffeine can be hard on your bones. “The more regular coffee a woman drinks, the more calcium is excreted in her urine,” says Linda Massey, a bone researcher at Washington State University in Spokane. (While no one has studied men, there is no reason to think that they react any differently.)
“The loss amounts to about five milligrams of calcium for every six ounces of coffee or two cans of cola,” says Janet Barger-Lux of Creighton University’s Osteoporosis Research Unit in Omaha, Nebraska.
“Two tablespoons of milk or yogurt for each cup of coffee you drink will replace the lost calcium,” says Barger-Lux.
Massey recommends “an easy rule of thumb” to not only compensate for the lost calcium, but to help build bone. “Drink a cup of milk for each cup of coffee,” she says.
- From NAH December 1996
Birth Defects and Miscarriages
Cleft palates, Missing toes and fingers.
In laboratory animals, very large amounts of caffeine seem to cause females to bear young that are malformed.
And birth defects were reported in the children of three women who drank 8 to 25 cups of coffee a day. In 1980, based largely on the animal evidence, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advised pregnant women to “void caffeine-containing foods and drugs, if possible, or consume them only sparingly.”
To its credit, the FDA was erring on the side of caution. While birth defects were never really shown to occur in humans at the lower levels we consume, that doesn’t get caffeine off the hook.
“The studies that were done in the early 1980s to see if caffeine caused birth defects in humans weren’t powerful enough to detect an effect,” notes Michael Bracken, a Yale University epidemiologist.
“There are so many different kinds of birth defects and so many different causes of them that it’s extremely difficult to implicate caffeine, particularly if its effect is subtle. In other words, it’s still uncertain whether caffeine matters.”
But caffeine may matter in another way, as more than a half dozen studies have shown.
For example, among nearly 4,000 women who gave birth in New Haven, Connecticut, in the early 1980s, those who consumed between 150 and 300 milligrams of caffeine a day during their pregnancies had more than twice the risk of delivering underweight babies (less than about 5 pounds) than those who consumed less. The risk was almost five times greater for women who consumed more than 300 milligrams a day.
“Lower birth weight is linked to an increased risk of dying in early infancy,” notes Bracken.
Unfortunately, researchers haven’t been able to tell if it’s the caffeine, the coffee, or something else about women who consume them that’s causing the low-birth weight babies. A new study at Yale is designed to answer the question.
It should also help determine whether caffeine increases the risk of miscarriage.
In 1996, a study by Bracken showed more than double the risk of miscarriage in women who were consuming more than 300 mg a day of caffeine.
- From NAH December 1996
Infertility
Trying to become pregnant? Then make your coffee decaf.
Among 104 heart women, those who drank just one cup of regular coffee a day were half as likely to become pregnant during any given menstrual cycle as those who drank less, according to a 1988 study by Allen Wilcox of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
Most of the ten studies conducted since then have also found that caffeine impairs fertility, but usually only at three or more cups of regular coffee a day.
But the research is only as good or bad-as the women’s memories. For example, scientists at Johns Hopkins University recently found that among 2,500 women who were trying to become pregnant, consuming more than 300 milligrams of caffeine a day reduced their chances of succeeding in any given month by 17 percent. But those results were based on the amount of coffee and soft drinks the women could remember having consumed as many as ten years earlier.
Even so, “it’s probably prudent for women who are trying to become pregnant, and especially for those having trouble, to cut back on caffeine,” says Mark Klebanoff of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, Maryland.
- From NAH December 1996
Heart Disease
Cafestol and kahweol. Odds are you’ve never heard of these two substances, which are found in the oils in ground coffee.
And, as long as you drink instant or filtered drip coffee (which most home coffee machines make and most restaurants and coffee houses serve), odds are they’’re not raising your LDL (“bad”) cholesterol or your triglycerides.
That’s because filters remove most of the cafestol and kahweol. So does the processing that goes into making instant coffee. Good thing.
In a small study published last year, LDL rose 12 percent and triglycerides rose 58 percent in healthy men and women who, for three weeks, were given oils from the equivalent of four to eight cups of non-filtered coffee a day. That jibes with a study that has monitored 1,040 men since they were medical students as long as 44 years ago.
“Men who drank five or more cups of coffee a day before 1975 were two and a half times more likely to develop heart disease than men who drank no coffee,” says Michael Kiag, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. “But men who drank that much coffee after 1975 seemed to have no greater risk than non-coffee-drinkers.”
What changed in 1975? “Drip coffee makers became popular about that time,” speculates Kiag.
That may explain why most recent studies see no higher risk of heart disease in coffee drinkers.
“We looked at it in the Nurses" Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study with many heavy coffee drinkers, men and women, over a long period of time, and we don’t see any effect whatever after proper adjustment for cigarette smoking,” says researcher Meir Stampfer of the Harvard School of Public Health.
“There doesn’t seem to be any relation, even with five cups a day, and even for people who already have heart disease. To my mind, it’’s basically a dead issue.”
- From NAH December 1996
Cancer
The connection between coffee and cancer was seared into the American health psyche in 1981, when a study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine concluded that “coffee use might account for a substantial proportion of the cases of [pancreatic cancer] in the United States.”
But most studies since then have come up empty.
“Coffee is not likely to be causing pancreatic cancer,” concludes Debra Silverman, an epidemiologist at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. “Smoking is clearly a risk factor, and once you take that into account, most studies show that coffee drinking doesn’’t seem to be associated with an increased risk.””
As for cancers of the bladder, breast, colon, lung, or prostate, “there’s no good evidence that coffee has any role in their development,” says John Welsburger of the American Health Foundation.
- From NAH December 1996
Good and Bad and The Myth
Can caffeine soothe your migraine? Or lift your tennis game? Or help you lose weight? Here are some things it can —— and can’t —— do.
Alcohol. “Caffeine may make a drunk wide awake, but it won’t make him sober,” reports Stephen Braun, author of Buzz, a new book on caffeine and alcohol ($25.00, 1996, Oxford University Press, Oxford, England) Athletic Performance.
“Low to moderate doses of caffeine, maybe two to three cups of coffee, improve performance, at least in well-trained athletes in the laboratory,” says Lawrence Spriet, a researcher at the University of Guelph in Canada. That may be why the excessive use of caffeine is restricted in international competitions.
Will a couple of cups of coffee help the weekend athlete? “When people ask me I just laugh and say no,” says Spriet.
“You’d get far more benefit from proper nutrition and running more often.”
Blood Pressure. Caffeine may cause a slight, temporary rise. But cutting back doesn’t appear to reduce the risk of or help treat hypertension.
Caffeine Dependence. Yes. It’s true. Go cold turkey and that headache is for real. How do you know if you’re dependent? One clue: You want to cut back but can’t.
Headaches. Caffeine increases the power of aspirin and other painkillers by about 40 percent. That’s why it’s in products like Anacin and Excedrin. Caffeine also appears to work by itself. In a 1991 study, 65 mg of caffeine as just as effective as 648 mg of acetaminophen in alleviating non-migraine headache symptoms. And doctors often treat migraines by prescribing combinations of caffeine and other drugs that constrict blood vessels in the brain.
Premenstrual Syndrome and Breast Lumps. Can eliminating caffeine lessen the symptoms? Some women swear that it does, but the research isn’t clear.
Problem Solving. “Caffeine speeds up reaction time and improves automatic processing skills like doing arithmetic problems and proofreading,” says author Stephen Braun. “But for more complicated tasks, like complex word problems, caffeine has also been shown to worsen performance.”
Sleep. Caffeine can delay the onset of sleep. It can also interfere with rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the stage when people dream. In a recent study, women in Iowa who routinely took caffeine-containing medications reported having more trouble falling asleep at night than women who took no caffeinated medications.
Weight-loss. In 1991, the FDA banned the use of caffeine in over-the-counter weight-loss aids because it has no long-term effect on weight.
- From NAH December 1996
Caffeine Corner Products rated by Amount
Product
Caffeine (mg)*
Coffee, grande (16 oz.) Starbucks 550
Caffe Americano, short (8 oz.) Starbucks 35
Coffee, tall (12 oz.) Starbucks 375
Caffe Latte, short (8 oz.) or tall (12 oz.) Starbucks 35
Coffee, short (8 oz.) Starbucks 250
Caffe Mocha, short (8 oz.) or tall (12 oz.) Starbucks35
NoDoz, Maximum Strength (1), or Vivarin (1) 200
Cappuchino, short (8 oz.) or tall (12 oz.) Starbucks35
7-Eleven Big Gulp cola (64 oz.) 190
Cola (12 oz.) 35**
Coffee, non-gourmet (8 oz.) 135**
Espresso (1 oz.) Starbucks 35
Excedrin (2) 130
Tea, green or instant (8 oz.) 30**
Maxwell House (8 oz.) 110
Chocolate, dark, bittersweet, semi-sweet (1 oz.) 20**
Caffe Americano, grande (16 oz.) Starbucks 105
Coffee, decaf, grande (16 oz.) Starbucks 10
NoDoz, Regular Strength (1) 100
Tea, bottles (12 oz.) or from instant mix (8 oz.) 14**
Coffee, instant (8 oz.) 95**
Coffee, decaf, short (8 oz.) or tall (12 oz.) Starbucks 10
Caffe Americano, tall (12 oz.) Starbucks 70
Chocolate, milk (1 oz.) 5**
Caffe Latte or Cappuccino, grande (16 oz.)Starbucks 70
Cocoa or hot chocolate (8oz.) 5**
Caffe Mocha, grande (16 oz.) Starbucks 70
Coffee, decaf, non-gourmet (8 oz.) 5**
Espresso, double (2 oz.) Starbucks 70
Espresso, decaf (1 oz.) Starbucks 5
Water, caffeinated (Edge 2 O), (8 oz.) 70
Tea, decaf (8 oz.)
Anacin (2) 65
Cola (20 oz.) 60**
Mountain Dew (12 oz.) 55
Cola (16 oz.) 50**
Tea, leaf or bag (8 oz.) 50
* = Average caffeine levels for popular beverages, foods, and
drugs (rounded to the nearest 5 milligrams.)
** = typical value
Caffeine is similar in structure to adenosine, a chemical found in the brain that slows down its activity. Since the two compete, the more caffeine you drink, the less adenosine is available up to a point. That’’s why caffeine temporarily heightens concentration and wards off fatigue.
Within 30 to 60 minutes of drinking a cup of coffee, caffeine reaches peak concentrations in the bloodstream. It typically takes four to six hours for its effects to wear off.
Smokers remove caffeine from their blood twice as fast as nonsmokers. That may be why smokers tend to drink more coffee.
The average American adult consumes about 200 milligrams (mg) of caffeine a day, and the top ten percent consume an average of 400 mg, according to John J. Barone, who tracks caffeine consumption at The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta.
As little as 200 mg of caffeine is enough to make some people feel nervous and anxious. It might take even less for cola-guzzling kids.
The typical American drinks about two cups of coffee a day. In 1962, when coffee consumption hit its peak, three cups was typical.
Coffee accounts for about ¾¾ of the caffeine we consume. Tea makes up about 15 percent, soft drinks about ten percent, and chocolate about two percent.
- From NAH December 1996
CAFFEINE CONTENT OF FOODS AND DRUGS:
Product Serving
Size 1 Caffeine (mg)2
OTC Drugs
NoDoz, maximum strength; Vivarin 1 tabl 200
Excedrin 2 tabets 130
NoDoz, regular strength 1 tablet 100
Anacin 2 tablets 64
Coffees
Coffee, brewed 8 ounces 135
General Foods International Coffee, Orange Cappuccino 8 ounces 102
Coffee, instant 8 ounces 95
General Foods International Coffee, Cafe Vienna 8 ounces 90
Maxwell House Cappuccino, Mocha 8 ounces 60-65
General Foods International Coffee, Swiss Mocha 8 ounces 55
Maxwell House Cappuccino, French Vanilla or Irish Cream 8 ounces 45-50
Maxwell House Cappuccino, Amaretto 8 ounces 25-30
General Foods International Coffee, Viennese Chocolate Cafe 8 ounces 26
Maxwell House Cappuccino, decaffeinated 8 ounces 3-6
Coffee, decaffeinated 8 ounces 5
Teas
Celestial Seasonings Iced Lemon Ginseng Tea 16-ounce bottle 100
Bigelow Raspberry Royale Tea 8 ounces 83
Tea, leaf or bag 8 ounces 50
Snapple Iced Tea, all varieties 16-ounce bottle 48
Lipton Natural Brew Iced Tea Mix, unsweetened 8 ounces 25-45
Lipton Tea 8 ounces 35-40
Lipton Iced Tea, assorted varieties 16-ounce bottle 18-40
Lipton Natural Brew Iced Tea Mix, sweetened 8 ounces 15-35
Nestea Pure Sweetened Iced Tea 16-ounce bottle 34
Tea, green 8 ounces 30
Arizona Iced Tea, assorted varieties 16-ounce bottle 15-30
Lipton Soothing Moments Blackberry Tea 8 ounces 25
Nestea Pure Lemon Sweetened Iced Tea 16-ounce bottle 22
Tea, instant 8 ounces 15
Lipton Natural Brew Iced Tea Mix, diet 8 ounces 10-15
Lipton Natural Brew Iced Tea Mix, decaffeinated 8 ounces 5
Celestial Seasonings Herbal Tea, all varieties 8 ounces 0
Celestial Seasonings Herbal Iced Tea, bottled 16-ounce bottle 0
Lipton Soothing Moments Peppermint Tea 8 ounces 0
Soft Drinks
Josta 12 ounces 58
Mountain Dew 12 ounces 55
Surge 12 ounces 51
Diet Coke 12 ounces 47
Coca-Cola 12 ounces 45
Dr. Pepper, regular or diet 12 ounces 41
Sunkist Orange Soda 12 ounces 40
Pepsi-Cola 12 ounces 37
Barqs Root Beer 12 ounces 23
7-UP or Diet 7-UP 12 ounces 0
Barqs Diet Root Beer 12 ounces 0
Caffeine-free Coca-Cola or Diet Coke 12 ounces 0
Caffeine-free Pepsi or Diet Pepsi 12 ounces 0
Minute Maid Orange Soda 12 ounces 0
Mug Root Beer 12 ounces 0
Sprite or Diet Sprite 12 ounces 0
Caffeinated Waters
Java Water ½½ liter (16.9 ounces) 125
Krank 20 ½½ liter (16.9 ounces) 100
Aqua Blast ½½ liter (16.9 ounces) 90
Water Joe ½½ liter (16.9 ounces) 60-70
Aqua Java ½½ liter (16.9 ounces) 50-60
Juices
Juiced 10 ounces 60
Frozen Desserts
Ben & Jerry’’s No Fat Coffee Fudge Frozen Yogurt 1 cup 85
Starbucks Coffee Ice Cream, assorted flavors 1 cup 40-60
Hääagen-Dazs Coffee Ice Cream 1 cup 58
Hääagen-Dazs Coffee Frozen Yogurt, fat-free 1 cup 40
Hääagen-Dazs Coffee Fudge Ice Cream, low-fat 1 cup 30
Starbucks Frappuccino Bar 1 bar (2.5 ounces) 15
Healthy Choice Cappuccino Chocolate Chunk or Cappuccino 1 cup 8 Mocha Fudge Ice Cream 1 cup 8
Yogurts, one container
Dannon Coffee Yogurt 8 ounces 45
Yoplait Cafe Au Lait Yogurt 6 ounces 5
Dannon Light Cappuccino Yogurt 8 ounces 1
Stonyfield Farm Cappuccino Yogurt 8 ounces 0
Chocolates or Candies
Hershey’’s Special Dark Chocolate Bar 1 bar (1.5 ounces) 31
Perugina Milk Chocolate Bar with Cappuccino Filling 1/3 bar (1.2 ounces) 24
Hershey Bar (milk chocolate) 1 bar (1.5 ounces) 10
Coffee Nips (hard candy) 2 pieces 6
Cocoa or Hot Chocolate 8 ounces 5
1 —— Serving sizes are based on commonly eaten portions, pharmaceutical instructions, or the amount of the leading-selling container size. For example, beverages sold in 16-ounce or half-liter bottles were counted as one serving.
2 —— Sources: National Coffee Association, National Soft Drink Association, Tea Council of the USA, and information provided by food, beverage, and pharmaceutical companies and J.J. Barone, H.R. Roberts (1996) “Caffeine Consumption.” Food Chemistry and Toxicology, vol. 34, pp. 119-129.
- From NAH December 1996
RELATED LINKS:
Chemical Cuisine: CSPI's Guide to Food Additives (see Caffeine)
Label Caffeine Content of Foods, Scientists Tell FDA
Scientists Urge Health Canada to Label Caffeine
Letter to Minister of Health Allan Rock: Caffeine Labelling
What's New -- CSPI Press Releases
For Release July 31, 1997
For more information:
202/332-9110
Label Caffeine Content of Foods, Scientists
Tell FDA
Health Activists Say Caffeine Causes More Than a 'Buzz':
Miscarriages, Withdrawal Symptoms, Poor Nutrition
Caffeine may cause miscarriages, insomnia, and other problems, according to more than 40 scientific studies outlined in a 70-page petition filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). CSPI and dozens of health advocates are urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to require the caffeine content of foods to be declared on labels.
"Caffeine is the only drug that is widely added to the food supply," said Michael Jacobson, executive director of CSPI, at a press conference in Washington, D.C., "and consumers have a right to know how much caffeine various foods contain. Knowing the caffeine content is important to many people -- especially women who are or might become pregnant -- who might want to limit or avoid caffeine."
The amount of caffeine varies widely among brands. For instance, a cup of Dannon Coffee Yogurt has as much caffeine as a 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola, while a Dannon Light Cappuccino Yogurt has no caffeine. Sunkist Orange Soda has more caffeine than a Pepsi, while Minute Maid Orange Soda has none. A cup of Starbuck's Coffee Ice Cream has as much caffeine as half a cup of instant coffee, while some other brands are virtually caffeine free.
"Americans should be mindful about their caffeine consumption. Drinking the caffeine equivalent of several cups of coffee a day can lead to insomnia, anxiety, and difficulty concentrating. Ceasing the consumption of caffeine often leads to withdrawal symptoms, such as headache and fatigue," said Roland Griffiths, professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "Caffeine is a mildly addictive drug, and parents might wish to limit their children's consumption of it."
Spurred by legal action by CSPI in the 1970s, the FDA issued an advisory in 1981 warning that "Pregnant women should avoid caffeine-containing foods and drugs, if possible, or consume them only sparingly." The FDA still maintains that advisory as its official policy.
"Unfortunately, food labels do not provide women with the information they need to put the FDA's advice into practice," said Patricia Lieberman, CSPI senior science policy fellow.
"Caffeine is present in an increasing variety of coffee and tea beverages, soft drinks, caffeinated waters, ice creams, and yogurts. It's usually impossible for consumers to estimate caffeine content based on a product's name or other label information."
Joining CSPI in support of the petition were 34 scientists and ten health and consumer groups. The supporters include prominent scientists from Johns Hopkins, Yale, Harvard, Duke, University of Michigan, University of California (Berkeley), and other universities, as well as the Association of State and Territorial Public Health Nutrition Directors, National Women's Health Network, Boston Women's Health Book Collective, and Society for Nutrition Education. John Hughes, of the University of Vermont's department of psychiatry, organized a coalition of scientists concerned about caffeine to ask the FDA to require caffeine labeling.
Separately, the American Medical Association recently called on the FDA to require caffeine-content labeling of foods that contain added caffeine.
"Consumers may not realize that some of their health problems could be due to caffeine," said Lieberman. "For instance, caffeine leads to increased risk of infertility, miscarriage, and impaired fetal growth. Caffeine also affects bone health, exacerbating the low calcium intake of women and teenagers and increasing the risk of osteoporosis."
Because caffeine is an added ingredient in soft drinks and caffeinated water, caffeine must be included in ingredient lists. But the labels do not have to disclose how much caffeine those foods contain. Neither the presence nor amount of caffeine is indicated on most labels of tea, coffee, and foods made with those beverages, such as ice cream and yogurt. Caffeine levels can vary widely:
1.Ben & Jerry's No Fat Coffee Fudge Frozen Yogurt has 85 mg of caffeine per cup -- the amount in five ounces of coffee -- while Healthy Choice's Cappuccino Mocha Fudge Low-Fat Ice Cream has only 8 mg per cup.
2.The caffeine content of 12-ounce soft drinks varies from Josta (58 mg), Mountain Dew (55 mg), Surge (51 mg), Coca-Cola (45 mg), Sunkist Orange Soda (40 mg), and Barqs Root Beer (23 mg), to none in Minute Maid Orange Soda or Mug Root Beer.
3.An 8 oz. cup of brewed coffee contains 135 mg of caffeine, while a cup of instant coffee contains 95 mg. General Foods International Coffees range from 26 to 102 mg per cup.
"Many children," Lieberman said, "consume large quantities of empty-calorie soft drinks and other caffeinated beverages in place of fruit juice, which may help reduce the risk of cancer, or 1% or skim milk, which may help reduce the risk of osteoporosis. U.S. Department of Agriculture data show that teenage boys drink twice as much soda as milk. Teenage girls drink 50 percent more soda than milk."
"This all comes down to the consumer's right to know," said Lisa Cox, program and policies director at the National Women's Health Network. "When a food contains an ingredient linked to health problems, labels should disclose to shoppers the amount of that ingredient."
CSPI's petition also asks the FDA to study the effects of caffeine on human health to determine whether it should require warning labels or other measures to protect the public.
Caffeine Content of Foods and Drugs Chart
CSPI, a nonprofit health-advocacy organization, was founded in 1971. CSPI is supported largely by the one million subscribers to its Nutrition Action Healthletter. The organization is well-known for obtaining nutrition labeling on all packaged foods and for its nutritional studies of restaurant foods.
