Caffeine-containing energy drinks raise safety concerns

Washington : New questions regarding the safety of caffeine for consumers has been recently raised as the caffeine-containing energy drinks have surged in popularity, reports ANI.

However, according to a June 23rd panel discussion at the 2014 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo in New Orleans there is a rich database of health evidence that had confirmed the safety of caffeine for consumers at current levels of exposure.

But the interaction of caffeine with the myriad of other ingredients that are found in many energy drinks is still unknown. Caffeine cleared out all the concerns over 30 years ago with extensive research for possible links to birth defects in animals and cardiovascular disease in humans.

James Coughlin, Ph.D. of Coughlin & Associates said that according to them the safety issues were put to bed in the 80s but today concerns are being raised because no one has gone back to look at the literature and there has been a lot of bad science related to caffeine that is fueling concerns.

In 2013, the U.S. Congress pressed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to look harder at the safety of caffeine and so they sponsored an Institute of Medicine scientific workshop which focused on the need to identify vulnerable populations that might be at risk from increased caffeine exposure and to pinpoint research gaps that needed to be filled.

James C Griffiths, Ph.D said that CRN believes that no new regulations are necessary concerning caffeine-containing products, since there is overwhelming scientific evidence demonstrating its safety but they are waiting to see what the FDA is going to do.