EFSA Seeks Comments on Caffeine Safety Assessment

The European Food Safety Authority (ESFA) has opened a public consultation
on a draft scientific opinion finding that “single doses of caffeine up to 200
mg and daily intakes of up to 400 mg do not raise safety concerns for adults.”
Authored by EFSA’s Nutrition Unit, the draft opinion also concludes that (i) “it
is unlikely that caffeine interacts adversely with other constituents of ‘energy
drinks’—such as taurine and D-glucurono-γ-lactone—or alcohol”; (ii) “for
pregnant women, caffeine intakes of up to 200mg a day do not raise safety
concerns for the fetus”; (iii) “for children (3-10 years) and adolescents (10-18
years), daily intakes of 3mg per kg of body weight are considered safe”; and
(iv) “single doses of 100mg may increase sleep latency (the amount of time
it takes to fall asleep) and shorten sleeping time in some adults.” EFSA has
requested comments by March 15, 2015. See EFSA News Release, January 15,
2015.

Issue 551