FDA’s Taylor Calls Caffeine-Infused Foods “Very Disturbing.”

In continuing coverage, The Hill (5/4, Hattem, 21K) “RegWatch” blog reported Food and Drug Administration Deputy Commissioner for Food and Veterinary Medicine Michael Taylor “called caffeine additives in snacks from jellybeans to waffles to energy drinks ‘very disturbing to us’ in an interview posted by the agency on Friday.”

Although earlier last week, Taylor “announced that the FDA would investigate” the health effects of caffeine-infused foods, in the remarks published Friday on the FDA’s website, “he seemed skeptical about the possibility of imposing age restrictions on caffeine,” according to The Hill. The agency’s safety probe on caffeinated food products was prompted by “Wrigley’s recent launch of Alert Energy Caffeine Gum, a product Taylor called ‘just one more unfortunate example of the trend to add caffeine to food.’”

The Los Angeles Times (5/4, Venteicher, 692K) and the New York Times (5/3, O'Connor, 1.68M) “Well” blog also provided more coverage on the FDA’s decision to investigate caffeine-infused food products.