Caffeine Safety has been Affirmed By Hundreds of Scientific Studies

Caffeine is one of the cost comprehensively studied ingredients in the food supply which supports the centuries of safe consumption in foods and beverages. In 1959, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration designated caffeine in cola drinks as “Generally Recognized Safe” (GRAS). The FDA considers caffeine safe for all consumers. In 1987, following extensive review, the FDA “found no evidence to show that the use of caffeine in carbonated beverages would render these products injurious to health.” More than 140 countries have specifically considered the safety of caffeine and allow its use in beverages at various levels. Both the U.S. Surgeon General’s office and the National Academy of Sciences National Research Council report there has been no association established between caffeine, as normally consumed in our diet, and an increased risk to health.

Although some studies have alleged associations between caffeine consumption and some health problems in humans, better designed, controlled and larger studies, have refuted such problems. For example, a large prospective study by Harvard University scientists reported caffeine consumption causes “no substantial increase in the risk of coronary heart disease or stroke.” This study included over 45,000 men between the ages of 40 to 75 years old and adjusted for other major cardiovascular risk factors. A large study published in 1996 in the Journal of the American Medical Association on the consumption of caffeine and coronary heart disease (CHD) in over 85,000 female nurses found no evidence of a positive relationship between coffee consumption (regular or decaffeinated) on the risk of CHD.

More recently medical scientists, expert in the field published a caffeine monograph in Food and Chemical Toxicology v. 40, 2000 on the effects of caffeine on childhood, human behavior, withdraw, on bone and the calcium economy, and reproductive hazards in women and found no consistent adverse effects with moderate caffeine consumption, with these various areas of human health.