The FDA has announced plans to review the effects of caffeine added consumer goods on teens and adolescents. Products that include added caffeine, such as Wrigley's newly released Alert Gum, is currently classified by the FDA as "generally recognized as safe" or GRAS, but could soon change.
Specifically the FDA says that they will examine the new forms of caffeine delivery being employed by companies like Wrigley. Their Alert gum for example promises as much caffeine as half a cup of coffee in each piece, tauting each pack as "four cups of coffee in your pocket."
"Could caffeinated macaroni and cheese or breakfast cereal be next?" said Michael Jacobson, director of the non-profit Center for Science in the Public Interest. "One serving of any of these foods isn't likely to harm anyone. The concern is that it will be increasingly easy to consume caffeine throughout the day, sometimes unwittingly, as companies add caffeine to candies, nuts, snacks and other foods. "
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