How many cups of coffee do you drink a day? Do you worry about your caffeine intake? Well, as Wes Venteicher of the Los Angeles Times reports, you won’t have to just worry about how much coffee you drink anymore. Now the FDA is researching the effect of caffeine on children, as companies are now putting caffeine in gum, jelly beans, even waffles and maple syrup. Considering the FDA has no rules on caffeine in food as of now, nor any data on the limits that children can safely take, it is imperative that the FDA work with food companies to find and set limits on marketing and caffeine amounts. As the author points out while citing a study, “Avoidance of caffeine in young people poses a great societal challenge because of the widespread availability of caffeine-containing substances and a lack of awareness about potential risks." Those risks include negative effects on the development of a child’s neurological and cardiovascular system, which can be a huge issue for children in the long run.
Venteicher juxtaposes the concept of caffeine in liquid with caffeine in food to emphasize the lack of laws in place for caffeine in food, as well as the necessity of the implementation of restrictions and research on the effects of caffeine. Is it really such a great idea to make caffeine so readily available? It is already posing problems in a liquid form, is it really worth the profit to possibly endanger the health of the youth to add caffeine to food? Either way, there must be some sort of law and/or regulation in place. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fda-caffeine-20130504,0,2828283.story?track=rss
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