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.

Physicians, Health Experts Urge FDA To Restrict Caffeine In Energy Drinks

The New York Times (3/20, Meier, Subscription Publication, 1.68M) reported, “A group of 18 doctors, researchers and public health experts” in a letter (pdf) sent Tuesday to FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, “argued that energy drink makers had failed to meet the regulatory burden placed on them to show that the ingredients used in their beverages were safe,” especially for use by children. Therefore, the group urged the agency to “restrict caffeine content in the products and to require manufacturers to include caffeine content on product labels.” The Times notes that energy-drink makers “have insisted their products are safe” and the FDA has “said that it is safe for adults to consume about 400 milligrams of caffeine daily, though many experts say that most adults can consume 600 milligrams or more of caffeine without ill effect.”

Energy Drinks Changing Aisles To Avoid Federal Regs. In a front-page story, the New York Times (3/20, A1, Meier, Subscription Publication, 1.68M) reports, “Fans of Monster Energy, the popular high-caffeine energy drink, may not notice the change: its ingredients will be the same and its familiar label bearing a green, clawlike monogram will change only slightly. But the drink’s maker has decided after a decade of selling it as a dietary supplement to market it as a beverage, a switch that will bring significant changes in how it is regulated.” For one, the move from the supplement aisle to the beverage aisle in the grocery store means Monster Beverage “will no longer be required to tell federal regulators about reports potentially linking its products to deaths and injuries.” Monster’s move “follows a similar regulatory makeover by another brand, Rockstar Energy,” and comes “amid intensifying scrutiny of energy drink safety.”