KANSAS CITY — People working in the coffee, energy drink and tea categories are waiting to see how the US Food and Drug Administration acts on caffeine labeling. Will it be only guidance and not a rule? Where will the agency say caffeine content should be placed on packaging? Will there be any warning labels?
The FDA’s Human Foods Program in June placed a priority on labeling caffeine content in foods and beverages and creating a draft guidance for industry. The guidance could cover packaged foods and beverages as well as products at restaurants or retail settings, said Claudia Lewis, who leads the food and drug practice at law firm Venable.
“It looks like this is just going to be a guidance document, just some best practices for disclosing added caffeine,” she said.
However, she added that it could lead to consumer groups urging companies to add more information on the caffeine levels in their products.
Currently, the FDA states that if a product contains caffeine, it must appear on the ingredient list, but listing the amount is not mandatory, said Jessica Williams, manager, product, ingredient and label review at Registrar Corp.
An FDA draft guidance on best practices for labeling caffeine would be voluntary, she said.
“If the FDA decides that a mandatory disclosure is needed, then the next step would be for FDA to publish a proposed rule in the Federal Register and solicit public comments and go through that whole process,” Williams said.
If a final rule were published, the FDA would give industry an additional compliance period, she said. The entire process might take several years.
“There’s just no way to predict when they’re going to move forward with something because their timelines are always changing,” Williams said of the FDA.
Any caffeine labeling guidance or rule more likely would apply to the back or side of a package, such as near or in the Nutrition Facts Panel, and not on the front of a package, she said.
Lewis said she would prefer a draft guidance, which would give parents information on caffeine, to a rule.
“I really like coffee,” she said. “So, I don’t like caffeine to be demonized.”
“There’s just no way to predict when the FDA is going to move forward with something because their timelines are always changing.” Jessica Williams, Registrar Corp
| Photo: ©POSTMODERN STUDIO – STOCK.ADOBE.COMTeens and caffeine
The FDA move comes as concerns rise over teenagers consuming energy drinks. Lewis said she did not drink coffee until she began an office job in high school.
“When I look at my own family, I have a 13-year-old daughter, and while she doesn’t drink a lot of caffeinated drinks, we do go to Starbucks, and she gets a drink every time,” she said. “And sometimes it’s matcha and sometimes it’s a green tea, and we don’t associate tea with caffeine, but all of that has caffeine in it.”
Williams said the FDA possibly could issue an advisory statement for high-caffeine products, such as not recommended for children or for pregnant or nursing individuals.
Coffee for heart health
Coffee received positive health news in an American Heart Association’s statement published July 20 in the association’s scientific journal Circulation.
Research indicates consuming up to five 8-oz cups of caffeinated coffee per day, or up to 400 mg of caffeine, is safe for most adults and may be linked to cardiovascular health benefits in some consumers, according to the association. Drinking caffeinated coffee without added sugars, flavors or cream was linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, heart failure and some irregular heart rhythms, according to association.
However, higher doses of caffeine, such as levels found in energy drinks, including energy shots, may cause cardiovascular harm, according to the association. Energy drink shots may contain 40 to 69 mg of caffeine per fluid oz, or three to four times more caffeine than regular caffeinated coffee, according to the association.
Fewer studies have focused on tea when compared to coffee, but tea has been associated with reduced risk of atrial fibrillation, heart failure and stroke, according to the association.
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