Products Stimulate Debate
Move over, espresso. Now there’s water, yogurt, juice and even gum fortified with eye-opening amounts of caffeine.
No time to brew coffee in the morning? There’s Aqua Java, water with more caffeine than a half cup of instant coffee. Can’t stay awake at your desk? Wrigley’s has just introduced gum with as much caffeine as a can of Coke.
Thanks to products such as these, Americans are consuming more and more caffeine. And that has sparked a lively debate about whether all this caffeine is good for you.
Health watchdogs point to research that links steady caffeine use with headaches, anxiety and insomnia. But food and beverage marketers counter that the amount of caffeine in these products isn’t high enough to be harmful.
Much of the debate focuses on products aimed at teenagers. Health advocates say slick advertising is influencing teens to choose caffeinated soft drinks over milk and other healthy drinks. Beverage makers say they’re not targeting teens.
Another aspect to the controversy is so-called hidden caffeine--products that contain the ingredient but don’t list it on the label. Health advocates want regulations that would require food and beverage companies to list caffeine. The industry says rules aren’t needed.
Analysts link the increase of caffeinated products in part to the proliferation of trendy coffee shops that have helped create a taste for lattes, cappuccinos and other coffee-flavored products.
“We can come here and just hang out,” said Nazeli Bezirjian, 15, as she and her friends sipped coffee drinks on a recent evening at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Los Feliz. Bezirjian said that during the school year, she begins each day with a cappuccino from a cart near Hollywood High School.
Also contributing to the trend, experts say, is an increasingly demanding lifestyle in which consumers are using caffeinated products to stay awake.
Thus Amurol Confections, a Yorkville, Ill.-based unit of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co., is aiming its Stay Alert gum at college students, truck drivers and workers facing a midafternoon slump in front of their computer. A stick of Stay Alert contains as much caffeine as a 12-ounce can of soda.
“It could be a substantial market for us,” said Bruce Thompson, Amurol vice president of marketing. The gum “really provides a benefit for people.”
Experts say teens are reaching for caffeinated beverages as they balance busy school, work and social schedules. A 1994 Department of Agriculture study shows that teenage boys drink twice as much soda as they do milk and teenage girls one and a half times more.
Pitches for caffeinated soft drinks mention “power” and “rush.” Visitors to the World Wide Web site for Coca-Cola’s caffeinated Surge citrus soda are urged to “get fully loaded” or “feed the rush.” The label on PepsiCo’s Josta soda spins a tale of Amazon tribes who believed the caffeine-rich guarana berry used to make Josta releases “raw primal power.”
Soft drink officials claim they’re not hyping caffeine in ads like these but trying to appeal to a high-energy younger generation. Critics say the ads are making caffeinated drinks seem chic and are steering kids away from more nutritious beverages.
“Milk consumption has been going down for about 20 years, while soft drink consumption continues to go up,” says Jeff Manning, executive director of the California Milk Processor Board. To stem its losses, in 1994 the board created the $140-million “Got Milk?” advertising campaign. Since that time, Manning says, milk sales have stopped slipping, but they haven’t gained much ground either.
Scientists say the increased consumption of caffeine isn’t dangerous, but it does carry potential side effects. Drinking two or three cups of coffee daily can cause anxiety, insomnia and inability to concentrate. Consuming 100 milligrams of caffeine--the equivalent of one cup of brewed coffee or two or three caffeinated soft drinks a day--is enough to produce physical dependency, says Roland Griffiths, a psychology and behavioral science professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Consumers trying to track caffeine consumption can’t always rely on product labels. The government doesn’t require food and beverage firms to list it as an ingredient. Thus foods made from coffee and chocolate, for example, contain varying amounts of caffeine.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a watchdog group, found that Ben & Jerry’s No-Fat Fudge Frozen Yogurt has 85 milligrams a cup--the same as a 5-ounce coffee, while Healthy Choice’s Cappuccino Mocha Fudge Low-Fat Ice Cream has only 8 milligrams. Rob Michalak, a representative of South Burlington, Vt.-based Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc., said the amount of caffeine in its desserts depends on how much coffee or chocolate is used.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, in a petition signed by Griffiths and several other doctors, has asked the Food and Drug Administration to require manufacturers to include caffeine content on food and beverage labels. They believe it is important to alert consumers to hidden caffeine.
“People may be consuming caffeine from sources they are not expecting it from,” said Patricia Lieberman, senior policy director at the center.
The FDA hasn’t taken any action on the petition, which is opposed by food and beverage firms.
By contrast, Canada strictly regulates caffeine. It is considered a food additive allowed in beverages such as coffee, tea and cola only, and it is required to be listed on labels.
PepsiCo, however, is lobbying the Canadian government so it can add caffeine to Mountain Dew, which is sold without it there. PepsiCo spokesman Jon Harris says, “Caffeine is part of the flavor mix.”
Not all caffeinated products have been a big success. Sales of R.J. Groux Corp.’s Aqua Java, a caffeinated bottled water, are down about 70% from last year, said company President Robert Groux.
“Consumers rushed right out and tried it because it was unique and interesting,” Groux says. “Some people liked it, some people went back to Coke and coffee.
Aqua Java has a following among appearance-conscious Californians, who don’t like drinking coffee or cola which could stain their teeth, Groux says.
But caffeine isn’t going away. The next big thing: sodas and juices that combine caffeine with other ingredients such as ginseng, kava and antioxidant vitamins.
Hansen’s De-Stress soda and Hype juice have hit the market this year and more are on the way, says Gary Hemphill, spokesman for Beverage Digest, a trade publication.
“I think we are going to see over the next five or 10 years, big growth in the good-for-you or value-added beverages,” Hemphill says. “People now want their soft drinks to do more than quench their thirst.”
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Caffeine Count
Caffeine is contained in a wide variety of products, from soda to yogurt to gum. Here’s a breakdown of how much of the stimulant you’ll find in selected items:
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Product Serving size Caffeine (mg.) Coffee (brewed) 8 oz. 135 Lipton iced tea 16 oz. 18 to 40 Josta soft drink 12 oz. 58 Mountain Dew 12 oz. 55 Surge citrus soda 12 oz. 51 Coca-Cola 12 oz. 45 Aqua Java bottled water 16 oz. 50 to 60 Dannon coffee yogurt 8 oz. 30 Sunkist orange soda 12 oz. 40 Hershey bar 1.5 oz. 10 Stay Alert gum 1 stick 50
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Source: Center for Science in the Public Interest
